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THE RELIGION OF JOY 



GOD-CONSCIOUSNESS, OR 
THE RELIGION OF JOY WITH GOD 



BY 

ETHEL BLACKWELL ROBINSON, S.B., M.D. 




BOSTON 

SHERMAN, FRENCH & COMPANY 

1911 



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Copyright, 1911 
Sherman, French &-> Company 



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DEDICATED TO GOD 

IN REVERENT_, JOYOUS SERVICE 



I believe that all human effort is dedi- 
cated to God^ although most men do not 
know it. All work dedicated to the 
Good^ the Loving^ the Ideal^ is really 
dedicated to God. Men work for the 
Just^ the Eighty the Ideals. These are 
all manifestations of God. They are 
most surely working for Him. As their 
spiritual vision grows^ they see God 
permeating all^ making all vital. 



•r 



FOREWORD 

The Religion of Joy! — of God's Joy! (as 
nearly as we can see it), — the only true Joy! — 
of which much so-called joy is a part, and into 
which all so-called sorrow may be transformed 
— a Joy, great, deep, eternal ! 

Reader, use those inner eyes, and look into 
your own soul, and throughout the wide Uni- 
verse, and see God's far-visioned benign plan, 
God's joyous light making all luminous! 

Then work with Him ; — and you, and all else, 
will grow transfigured by His Joy! 



SUB-TITLES 

PAGE 

The Religion of Joy 1 

Elevate the Church: Elevate the 

Race 4 

The Joy in the Right Mental Atti- 
tude 9 

Joy — Spiuitual Satisfaction ... IT 

The Joy of Faith 31 

Joy for God's Helpers 39 

Prayer 59 

The Joy of Fixing Our Ideals ... 71 

The Joy of Prayer 97 

Joy in the Knowledge of God . . .109 

We Are Creating Gods 120 

An Appeal to My Fellow Men — A 
Prayer to the God-Within Each 
Other Soul 121 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 

Phillips Brooks says in one of his sermons, 
"Again, the summons of God for men to join 
Him in his Joy, appears to open a new region 
of motive, which, if it really becomes influential 
with any of us, must become very strong in- 
deed, in inciting us to noble work." 

What is the Religion of Joy? — -the Re- 
ligion of Joy with God? It is the love 
of the human soul for its God, and the 
joy which follows as we serve Him, and 
feel His responsive love. It is God-conscious- 
ness. It is the soul loving its Creator, Sus- 
tainer, Strengthener, Father; and rejoicing in 
it. The human soul is made with an infinite 
capacity for love. Love is the leading string 
from the cradle to the grave, and before the 
cradle, and beyond the grave. Love is the 
great absorbing passion of life. Love we must. 
Love misdirected is the rock upon which men 
are stranded — -for a time. Love truly directed, 
love touched by divine sanction, spiritual 
love, is the power of this world, and of all that 
is to be hereafter. Someone says, we must 
love "largely," "expecting no return," and 
"thinking not to possess." As Coleridge says. 



2 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

"He i^rayeth best who loveth best 
All things both great and small^ 
For the dear God who loveth us 
He made and loveth all/' 



The New Religion, or rather, the new inter- 
pretation of the forever old grand religion is 
I believe, one of love and joy, of spiritual love 
and spiritual satisfaction. The religion of fear 
(of hell-fire), which controlled the world at 
an earlier development, has lost its hold. Our 
brothers will have none of it. What shall we 
give them in the place of it.? What does God 
hold out to them, if they will but let Him ? To 
me. He says, love Me, love Me with your deepest 
broadest, most unselfish love. Love Me so that 
My slightest wish is followed. Give yourself 
to the service of My kingdom — with earnest, 
persistent, tireless energy — because thus are 
you reaching toward the ideal, toward perfec- 
tion. If you love Me enough, there are no 
trials and complainings, no hard conditions 
which you cannot escape, no tribulations, or 
wailings, or faithless mournings. It is all 
privilege, opportunity, new spiritual light and 
power, for nothing is too hard to bear, all is 
joyous service. It is a chance to show the love 
and faith and loyalty for Your Father, and to 
use your God-given power. 

And this thought tends to make Me univer- 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 3 

sal, to drop all petty selfishnesses. I can, and 
must serve each and every and all other chil- 
dren of God. God loves each one as much as 
He loves me. He deals with absolute justice 
and equality with each. But oh, how dearly 
they know His love, how tenderly they feel His 
care, and how joyously He rewards His chil- 
dren of the light, who hail the coming of the 
light, and help its coming! 

"Blessed are the pure in heart for they 
shall see God." Dr. Amory H. Bradford 
points out that "this is a universal ethical 
law." And that "love, as pure affection, 
is the same whether it be in a child, or in 
an adult, in a man or in God." And that 
"spiritual vision is conditioned on moral 
purity." 

Turn to God's love at every step you take, 
with every breath you breathe, literally keep 
saturated with a wish for His approval, a long- 
ing for His guidance, and an earnestness in 
His service. There will be no pathway of real 
sacrifice then, but a pathway of help, a sacri- 
fice of the lesser for the greater good. A 
lover will do all for his loved one, why not a 
human soul for its God.^ The lives of our 
martyrs testify to this wonderful exaltation 
of joy in service. 

Could you be a Socrates, and drink the deadly 
hemlock? Protest against wrong, try to right 



4 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

wrongs, but if you must submit, do it glori- 
ously ! 

Many people, even many of our ministers 
talk about religion and about God. But we 
are demanding that our preachers must be 
practicers ; and fortunately those who are 
themselves religious, and have an absorbing 
love for God, are increasing rapidly in num- 
bers. Religion is life, is living, for the religion 
of to-day must be the applied religion, and 
grows with the larger life. As life expands 
and sweetens, it shines full of deep meanings, 
of God within all things, and that is the true 
enlarging religion. 

ELEVATE THE CHURCH 

ELEVATE THE RACE 

Why are the churches so empty? And why 
do we say that people have withdrawn from 
religious expression? I believe it is because 
the interpretations of religion are generally so 
gloomy and sombre. 

If we try to see life and religion as a whole, 
as God sees it, it is glorious and benign ! 
His vision is ideal to us, full of perfect love, 
perfect faith and perfect joy. Man holds his 
religion as too sacred to have foisted upon 
him all sorts of misrepresentations of religion. 

If you are projecting a splendid business 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 6 

scheme, how the vision holds and fascinates 
you. If you are creating even a ball-gown or 
a new house, or some benevolent plan for the 
brotherhood of man, the vision before you is 
entrancing. 

How much more wonderful then, is the vision 
of the eternal life of the soul in God ; for are 
we not then aspiring and working with God, 
loving and jubilant with Him! And every 
least act in every life which has caught the 
vision, is flooded with radiant rainbow tints. 
A Religion of Love and Joy ! Draw the people 
into the churches as followers of the Religion 
of God's Love and God's Joy ! Tell them of 
it, write them of it, and above all, live it (that 
is enough), live a life full of God- realization 
and God-joy! Joy, spiritual satisfaction! 
God has it ! God holds it out to you ! 

Create your highest mental conceptions, pat- 
terned as closely as you can after God. Draw 
your life up to this mental creation. If you 
live in lofty thoughts and visions, your char- 
acter and conditions are bound to try to con- 
form. 

If parents would only aspire to God-like 
creations, how noble the race would become ! 

My pufF-ball sweety 

With curled-up f eet^ 
Oh whisper ere thy toes uncurl^ 
Art Grandpa's boy? or Papa's girl.^ 



6 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

Thou mystery ! 

Love's history! 
Thine eyes are sloes^ and soft and shy? 
Or blue and starry like the sky? 

Thou lovely care ! 

Thou mother's prayer! 
Hast smile to snare in love's own net 
With curls of sunshine? or of jet? 

My treasure hid^ 

My Captain Kidd, 
Thy heart and brain and soul are gold 
Thy fore-bears know^ the birdies told! 

Thou longed-for dear ! 

Thy work is here ! 
To draw all hearts^ my noble girlie, 

(noble boy). 
To God, and to His radiant Joy ! 



THE CALL OF THE UNBORN 

Oh smile up your heart for me, mother ! 
Be happy, be buoyant, be mild; 
Oh smile up your heart for I'm coming ! 
You'll make me a lovelier child! 

I'll bud as a gay little lassie. 

Or bloom as a cheery young lad. 

So smile up your heart, mother darling. 

You'll always be grateful and glad! 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 7 

I'm sent on our God's loving business^ 
I sing it again and again, 
I'm coming to show you God loves you! 
He loves you. He loves you, oh men ! 

Oh Father, that both parents together, may 
plan in devoted discipleship, to bring souls into 
the world to radiate Thy light, and reap for 
Thee, a sweeping, a complete, harvest ! 

We must leave behind our petty, our selfish 
individuality, — the enlarging individuality will 
hold its own,^ — we must seek God's large per- 
sonality; we must place our emphasis on the 
universal, on universality. 

Would you not rather be happy, calm, se- 
rene, joyous, cheerful, confident and full of 
strength, than be often unhappy, anxious, ir- 
ritable, gloomy, doubtful, and with evaporating 
energy? Of course you would! Would you 
not do your work better, and help others to do 
so? Then build upon this triple rock of love 
and faith and Joy ! 

But you say, why should I build upon this, 
rather than upon any other theory? 

I say, you can build upon any theory you 
like, and provided you live up to it, you will 
find much ground for its working. And herein 
lies the strength of William James' theory of 
Pragmatism, if a thing works it is true. Seek 
after the highest ideal you can, it will continue 



8 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

to grow higher. But show me any other the- 
ory which is so satisfactory, satisfying, or 
promises better true success : any theory that 
goes farther, and I will follow it. Even from 
a selfish point of view, it brings friends, money, 
position ; and from a self-less or universal 
view, it is exquisitely applicable. 

It matters not by what road we ap- 
proach this Religion of Joy with God, this 
unifying centre, this core of truth in all re- 
ligions. It only matters that we do approach 
it. 

Every religion knows it ; and every denom- 
ination. The other world religions have found 
it ; whether Buddhism, Theosophy, the Vedanta 
Philosophy, or what not. 

If the Quakers (Friends) lead us gently to 
this point, splendid for the Friends ! If the 
mystics show us this, all hail, ye mystics ! If 
the Christian Scientists put much emphasis 
upon it, in so far, are they giving us a strong, 
practical, modern-day theory ! If the mental 
Scientists hold this attitude of mind, we will 
label ourselves mental Scientists. But it is 
among the active young Unitarians that I have 
been fired with this joyous illumination of life 
and religion. 

Can the world not band together, then, in a 
unified religion? In the realization of a deep 
solemn joy — with the wonderful, mysterious. 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 9 

all-strengthening Father, as we come into a life 
of consecrated service with Him? 

It is true that a people's religion takes its 
color from its cloudy or cloudless skies, its 
temperature, its land, its race. But in all 
lands and races, the law of spiritual love with 
its accompaniment of deep unselfish joy would, 
I believe, suffice. 

THE JOY IN THE RIGHT MENTAL 
ATTITUDE 

This Religion of Joy directly reverses many 
mental attitudes to-day held. And do they not 
need reversing.^ It would make men rush to 
help, comfort and cheer, pouring themselves 
out in spiritual discipleship — not trying to es- 
cape so-called duties, burdens and responsi- 
bilities, but seeking them, as sons of the Holy 
Grail. So that men who had no so-called bur- 
dens of their own, would hasten to try to lift 
off^ others' burdens, showing them mental sun- 
shine, and the light of divine love. Instead of 
trying to get something for nothing, they would 
seek to give more than the value, a cup running 
over. Instead of sliding into easy berths, they 
would turn to lend a hand. They would be 
freed from the destroyers, fear and worry, and 
be filled with God's strength, through faith and 
adoring love. 



10 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

Such phrases as "do your duty'' (your cold 
duty), would read, do your best for the steady 
warm love of God; and "bear your burden" 
would read, lift and cheer, for your Heavenly 
Father is with you. 

Ella Wheeler Wilcox says, 

**There are two kinds of people on earth to-day 
Just two kinds of people^ no more^ I say. 

Not the rich and the poor^ for to count a man's 

wealth 
You must first know the state of his conscience and 

health. 

Not the happy and sad^ for the swift flying years^ 
Bring each man his laughter and each man his 

tears. 

No^ the two kinds of people on earth I mean 

Are the people who lift^ and the people who lean. 

In which class are you^ are you easing the load 
Of over-taxed lifters who toil down the road.^ 

Or are you a leaner^ who makes others bear 
Your portion of worry and labor and care?*' 

I used to feel that religion was the relation 
of the soul to its God. Now I feel that reli- 
gion is the life of the soul merged or immersed in 
the life of God. 



THE RELIGION OF JOY IT 

Let each soul know his loving Heavenly 
Father as a wonderful, vital Personality, per- 
meating everything and everyone. It is sad 
to see men putting all the warm personal side 
into the idealization of Jesus, and only the 
cold laws and distant justice into their God. 
To me, life's great symphony has God, the lov- 
ing Father, as melody, rhythm, and harmony 
of it all. And the plan of life for each soul is 
to key itself to that unity and harmony. And 
yet, the wonderful optimism in it all is, that 
whether men strike one note at a time, or ten, 
in harmony, if their mental attitude is attuned, 
the local habitation and the name make little 
difference after all. It is the fact, rather than 
how they label the fact, which is the important 
thing. What then does it matter whether we 
call it God or Good? 

But from another point of view, it matters 
very much, it is the most vital thing in life, in 
development. It lights up all the darkness, 
loves away all that is hateful, brings us a royal 
faith, an enthusing joy, and strengthens us 
with a desire for abounding service, to this won- 
derful Personality which is drawing us to Him- 
self. Where we put the emphasis, what the 
motif is, makes a difference in the whole sym- 
phony. 

Let us then emphasize the attitude of mind 
as the important thing. Primitive man ador- 



12 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

ing his stone, the savage glorifying the moon, 
or the human soul its God, is each holding the 
loving, reverent attitude of mind toward his 
ideal. It does not so much matter in a certain 
sense whether you are consecrating yourself 
with loving devotion to your ideal of right or 
justice or service to your fellow-men, and I 
am pouring out my heart and soul in love for 
a personal God, and joying in service with 
Him. We are both holding the loving, 
strengthening attitude of mind toward our 
ideal. But I maintain that call it what j^'ou 
will, approach it more nearly or farther off, 
worship it blindly, half-blindly, with clearing 
vision, or in the joyous light, it is the love of 
God, and it is drawing us to Himself. 

But remember the music depends upon its 
motif. The way you live your life depends 
upon its motive. Whether we know it or not, 
whether we are wise enough to see life in part, 
or as approaching a whole, microscopically or 
telescopically, we are feeling a benign God 
drawing our heart-strings. 

To give a suggestion of what I mean let us 
say that a man is driving toward home at 
night. His home is a good home, well-planned, 
with just architectural and hygienic laws. But 
the only personality in it is his own : that which 
he has put into it, or will put into it, when he 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 13 

arrives at the door. He will make his fire, and 
turn on the lights and prepare his food. The 
power is there: the electricity, the gas-flame, 
the flour and salt. Oh, but is it not all cold 
and dreary? This to me, is like approaching 
God as some cold power or set of laws. There 
must be the warmth and fire and food of a lov- 
ing personality, to attract, and make joyous! 
It is because of this need that our people have 
been so glad to attach their religion to such 
a personality as Jesus. But why stop there? 
Where would Jesus lead us? To God! Why 
do all people not aim straight toward God 
then? If God is good, the goodness emanates 
from some-One, from His wondrous per- 
sonality. If God is loving, it is the adorable 
tender love of His marvelous personality. It 
is as though, at the home, the traveler will 
find awaiting him all the love conceivable, all 
the warmth and light, comprehension and joy, 
in the world summed up, perfected! What a 
home-coming! What rest in the personality 
of God! 

And a purely abstract God, does not hold 
my love enough, does not seem to love me 
enough, does not inspire me enough to coun- 
teract the difficult, the negative, the wrong, or 
the sad, sides of life : but a personal God, plus 
the abstract, having all the human (the uni- 



14 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

versal human), perfected, as well as all beyond 
the human, the Infinite, is a stronger force to 
me than is any self or all human-selves put 
together. With what I am able to comprehend 
of such a God, my little scales must surely 
tip, true to that resplendent love and strength 
and far-visioned joy. 

It is so helpful often to remember that we 
are responsible for how we do a thing, rather 
than for what has to be done. We have also 
much to do, perhaps indirectly, with what has 
to be done. But first of all, how are we doing 
this thing? 

The immediate step which turns our life in 
the way of divine love is, it seems to me, in the 
manner in which we let our thoughts run — 
our attitude of mind. Thoughts are forces, 
and produce actions and things. We find our 
mind thinking something mean or small or gos- 
sipy, something unfair, dishonest or selfish. 
We think it doesn't matter because people do 
not see our thoughts. Ah, but don't they? 
In our faces, in our lives, in the mental and 
spiritual atmospheres vibrating about us. If 
we have halos, they can be seen or felt ! Our 
world is receiving the full mental reaction of 
our thoughts ! If we but knew the forces we 
are setting a-going. 

Whittier says, 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 15 

"Is there then no death for a word once spoken? 
Was never a deed but has left its token. 
Written on tablets never broken? 
Do the elements subtle reflections give? 
Do pictures of all the ages live 
On Nature's infinite negative? " 

And if this be true in the material world, 
we are just coming to realize that it is more 
poignantly true in the mental and spiritual 
realms. 

Jane Brownlee, in describing her ethical 
training in the public schools, quotes so often: 

**You never can tell what your thoughts will do 
In bringing you hate or love. 
For thoughts are things. 
And their airy wings 
Are swift as the carrier dove. 
They follow the law of the universe, 
Each thing must create its kind, 
And they speed o'er the track 
To bring you back 
Whatever went out from your mind." 

Stop your selfish thoughts, and remember 
the other man's point of view. 

I like to think of Abraham Lincoln, his big 
honest eyes looking through each face which 
presented itself to him, taking the point of 
view of each, seeing its capabilities, and pos- 



16 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

sibilities, its humanity; and I would like to 
emphasize with him the thought of its divinity. 

I remember that when I was doing work in 
the hospitals, and the poor little miserable 
mothers came to have medical care in bringing 
their babes into the world, despite all the sor- 
didness and misery, I could not help being im- 
pressed with the divinity in each one. The 
God-given power and divinity. 

It is useful to each of us to read the face of 
the other man sympathetically. Then lay out 
our own helpful, noble plan, and stick to it. 
Think just what you want to accomplish, first; 
secondly direct your thought as you would turn 
the rudder of a boat; and thirdly add wishing 
and longing and loving to it. Finally the re- 
sult will be accomplishment. 

You ask, why must I do so or so, in my busi- 
ness, my social, or my home life? Because a 
hundred other people doing that same thing 
would prove it wrong to do. I may do that 
which all others may do, no more and no less. 
Thus I must grow universal. 

But to me, morality, with its present day 
outburst in Ethical Culture, and fraternal love, 
with its appearance in the unselfish forms of 
socialism, have their final meaning, not in stop- 
ping with cold justice, and not ending even 
with warm social fairness ; to me, all forms of 
brotherhood helpfulness have their final mean- 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 17 

ing in the fact that they are on this leading 
string of love, which holds me so closely to 
God, our common Father. The cord which 
draws me to Him, leads out from Him to my 
fellow-men. God says, love Me, love My chil- 
dren, serve Me, serve My children. Having 
found a loving Father, I have found the larger 
reason for being of service to my fellow-men. 
It is a matter of Heredity — Heredity of body, 
mind and spirit — of everything — from God. 

Hold the mental attitude of Joy, and all 
the other factors in the problem, in the rela- 
tion, in exact mathematical precision, fall into 
appropriate joyous places — we radiate joy, 
harmony, happiness. 

We can't help thinking loving thoughts. We 
can't help being led by love. But we can di- 
rect what love shall lead us. Is our love pure, 
unselfish and universal? If not, we have much 
to think over and direct, and much to pray to 
God for. If our love be thus unselfish, pure 
and universal, we will joy in the Glory of God, 
in serving Him everywhere, and for everyone, 
and in being loved by Him. 

JOY SPIRITUAL SATISFACTION 

Perhaps you say you have never interpreted 
Joy in this way. 

Perhaps you say that Joy is a by-product 



18 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

in the love of God. Agreed! But the by- 
product often becomes the strong motive for a 
chemist's continuing his manufacturing estab- 
lishment. 

Joy is a relative term, enlarging with de- 
velopment. The Joy of the child is not so 
comprehensve as the Joy of the adult. Joy on 
the spiritual plane is higher than joy on the 
physical and mental planes. The final joy 
sought for, and the final response, is spiritual 
satisfaction, A seeking by the human soul, a 
response on the part of the Creator. 

With the child, joy is largely a physical re- 
sponse, something material often calls it out. 
But as mental development continues, there 
must be mental response; as moral and spirit- 
ual needs urge, they, too, must be satisfied. 

In a beautiful landscape, the child feels color, 
light, form and harmony as a simple unified 
joy; but an adult is more or less vaguely con- 
scious of a benign order controlling all this 
glory. And the largely enlightened vision will 
surely see the expression of a wonderful deity 
within it all, ever growing and enlarging to- 
ward the perfect. 

If we want to state it more systematically, 
we can say that the man who is led by his heart 
primarily, in religion as in all other matters, 
is led first of all by love, ever-enlarging. And 
to him an ever-enlarging joy is the product of 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 19 

his love. And when his love is great enough it 
grows into a heart-felt conviction of God in 
everything ; and he begins a service, not of duty 
but of love. He joys in the service, and ex- 
ults in his God-given power and opportunity. 

To the man who is led primarily by his head, 
by mind, the grand large logic of things ap- 
peals. Gradually the mental conviction of a 
benign power grows upon him, and this affords 
him great joy. His logic tells him to co-oper- 
ate with this benign God in a service of Joy. 

To the man who is led by his soul, by spirit, 
come mystical realizations, widening into a 
spiritual conviction of a benign God vitalizing 
all things. And with this comes the radiant 
joy of vision and a beginning of true service 
lightened by the joy of accomplishment. 

The joy, then, in each case, is two-fold; 
theoretical, in the vision, in the promise for the 
future, in the brilliant alluring possibilities 
held up to the soul, and practical, in the satis- 
faction of accomplishment, and in God-given 
and effective power. 

It is joy, for the future, it is joy in the past, 
but forever it is joy in the present. 

But the ultimate Joy is all in the service of 
wonderful adoration for our lovable Heavenly 
Father. And this also is two-fold, service to 
self, self-realization or completion, for God; 
and service to all the rest of God's realm; to 



20 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

others. In helping them to realize the God in 
themselves. 

The perfect action is that exquisite moving 
point at which we are doing the best for our- 
selves and for all others and all else, at one and 
the same time. It is the line of love along 
which God is holding us to Himself. 

Our souls are creative powers, or centers ca- 
pable of developing ourselves and of helping 
others develop, physically, mentally and spirit- 
ually. What wonder that the thought awakens 
a great jubilance within us! 

You urge that the Religion of Joy is theo- 
retical, and not practical; that perfect joy is 
an ideal, at which we can never arrive. 

I claim that it is practical, because it is of 
such power to make men rise and strive ; that 
once fired by it, nothing else will satisfy, and 
only inhibiting forces such as lack of health, 
and lack of sanity will retard, and these not 
nearly so much as before the goal was caught 
sight of. 

Because we can't be all at once perfect, is it 
any reason for not trying to be perfect? No, 
a thousand times, no. If it be worth the win- 
ning, it must be a long time before it is won — 
the more worth while, the longer the winning. 

The coming Religion of Joy with God, the 
resolution to help and upbuild, is a religion of 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 21 

earnestness, not indifference, of longing to take 
the side of right and goodness, kindness and 
helpfulness. It is affirmative. A religious 
man is not passive ; he is the most active of 
men, physically, mentally and spiritually. He 
has just so much energy of his own to use, but 
he knows how to call upon the energy of others, 
and the energy of God. 

Hitherto the Christian world seems to have 
exalted Jesus-on-the-cross, and the man with 
the cross, the man with the sorrows. Hitherto 
this has probably been wise. In the old sense 
of course we must carry our crosses ; and in 
the old sense, stinging, cutting, deadening 
weights they are if we dwell on them as such, 
under which we can only creep and writhe and 
fall and weep (to use the old phraseology), if 
we consider ourselves as doing so. But oh, how 
weak we are, if we do ! No, we rise up, and 
place the emphasis elsewhere in these days. 
Are we not children of the Religion of Joy, 
God's Joy? Do we not realize now that the 
cross is our chance to rise, our point or step of 
spiritual ascent, our apotheosis? We use 
different values. We put the emphasis upon 
the affirmative, the ennobling, the constructive. 
We change our attitude of mind to a lofty 
helpful vision, lifting us above all difficult con- 
ditions. We emphasize only the higher mt- 



23 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

spiring conditions and meanings. We realize 
now that this side of bearing a cross is the side 
of life to be ignored, the side of life to be made 
light of, that even crosses can be put under, 
that they are the negative side ; they cannot 
dampen the ardor to uplift and help, the burn- 
ing desire to be of use to God, to be His helper, 
to see with His vision, to be a universal power 
with Him. What are conditions? The re- 
lation between God and the human soul, is the 
important thing; and how you use the con- 
ditions. 

The coming artist of the Religion of Joy, will 
be he who shall portray the exalted joyous 
Christ, the mighty helper, modest, but superior 
to all so-called crosses, with a face full of res- 
olution, energy, sympathy and joy. 

The madonnas of the artists show more joy 
than the Christs. And I believe the madonnas 
are more loved than the Christs, for that rea- 
son. 

Combine the love and power with joy in the 
face of the Christ, of the saint, and how it 
will hold and lead us ! That is the secret of 
the charm on the face of Hoffman's "young 
Christ in the Temple" — the light of power and 
exalted joy upon it. Power and Joy! Radi- 
ant enthusiasm ! Unselfish Love on fire to help t 

To-day, so much emphasis is put upon the 



i 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 23 

woman problem. But we should realize that 
it is only the woman aspect of the human prob- 
lem. During most times and among most 
races, woman has been suppressed and sub- 
ordinated. But because of this very thing, she 
has come often to ignore conditions, and has 
risen often to great spiritual heights, under 
trying circumstances. And I believe that be- 
fore the so-called woman's day fades into the 
human day, there will be marvelous manifes- 
tations of spiritual leadership, in art, in lit- 
erature, in practical life, on the part of women. 
It is said that there are at present in the 
United States alone over 4,000 women minis- 
ters! 

The old-fashioned Methodist and negro con- 
version, with its accompanying exaltation, is 
the state into which each soul must come. Only 
this must be kept balanced, with the ever-grow- 
ing science of to-day, and with the sanity of 
a developing reason, and a more universal and 
benignant philosophy. All is onward progress- 
ing, enlarging toward perfection. "Build 
thee more stately mansions, oh my soul, as the 
swift seasons roll," we say with Holmes. A 
larger faith, a more exalted and magnificent 
deity. Bring and keep me humbly at His feet. 
But let me realize that I am His child, directed 
by This, my all glorious Father. And that 



24 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

makes me of large capacity and power — 
His ability and power. Let me prove that 
I can do whatever He wills, whatever 
my heart lighted by God's wisdom tells me to 
do. 

In all times, some men of great sanctity have 
been un-normal, insane and run mad, causing 
all manner of cruelties and inquisitions ; all 
done for the love of God! How necessary it 
is for us to keep balanced, sane and apace 
with science, and to enlarge our religion to 
one of universal love. Justice to ourselves is 
not sufficient in God's plan, justice to our fel- 
low-men. He longs for, also. 

And, above all, remember. He would have 
us do our work, not scourged to our tasks as 
slaves, but going into it joyously, lovingly, 
generously, as His co-workers. Not servants 
in the old sense but friends. Serving God, 
serving humanity, a glorious servant in the 
Kingdom ! 

The Religion of Joy unites all the positive 
qualities which uplift. It is more than peace 
and calm; it is a positive enthusiasm. It is 
truly the historical descendant of all the fore- 
going interpretations of religion, which have 
proved themselves insufficient for our present 
needs. It is the religion of democracy, of the 
true republic. It is of the Liberty and Prog- 
ress of the modern Unitarians, It is the re- 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 25 

ligion of brotherhood, a brotherhood knowing 
why. 

And why is The Religion of Joy, especially 
one of Liberty and Progress? Because in this 
realm in which spiritual satisfaction or ex- 
alted joy possesses us, we are in a state of 
high liberty, for no sort of license tempts us 
any longer; we are freed from a desire for all 
license, we have gone beyond and found some- 
thing better, we have our liberty. 

As Phillips Brooks so well says, "Not self- 
restraint but self-indulgence, the free unhin- 
dered utterance of the deepest nature, which is 
Good — that is the only final picture of man's 
duty which he tolerates." "The diamond na- 
ture." 

James Martineau says that in the little con- 
stant (so-called) sacrifices, we can tell, as, 
each day the dial points to the hour, by the 
fluttering or the stillness of our hearts, how 
far we have gone upon the spiritual way, and 
when it is that as these crises come, the perfect 
quiet glow is ours, we know that our souls have 
gone very far toward glorification. 

The meaning of freedom as liberty, release 
from bondage, has come to me with new force. 
Liberty from selfishness, liberty from impure 
thoughts, etc. 

On the physical plane, if I have gone beyond 
all the narrowing selfish desires, I am freed 



ae THE RELIGION OF JOY 

from them, they no longer attract me, and 
therefore no longer hamper me, I have risen 
to what God would have me feel, as I conceive 
it. 

On the mental plane, if I have attained my 
true freedom there, I have grown beyond super- 
stition, false pride, doubt, fear, worry. These 
fettering, destroying conditions, no longer hold 
my mind. I have risen above them, to God's 
clearer reason, to a wider, more universal men- 
tal horizon. 

On the spiritual plane, if I hold to my Re- 
ligion of Joy, I am freed from bondage there. 
I no longer count trials and struggles as such, 
in the old sense. I hold to God: and try to 
penetrate what He would have me do with the 
conditions. I see Him leading me firmly up to 
greater light, to larger responsibilities of a 
more universal kind. The truly lovely per- 
fect self, the God within each one of us, is try- 
ing to shine forth! 

This matter of superstition is interesting. 
It is all a matter of attitude of mind. If I 
have no superstition, no fear, this fearing at- 
titude of mind will not aiFect me. If I have 
superstitions and respect them, and avoid con- 
tact with them, I so eliminate fear from my 
mental holding. It is a case of extremes meet- 
ing. The superstitious and the non-supersti- 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 27 

tious, each working along his own line of phi- 
losophy, seems to himself to do equally well. 
(This sort of thing is interesting as illustrat- 
ing pragmatism.) So the man who avoids 
thirteen at table, and the woman who never 
wears opals, or that one who seeks thirteen at 
table or to wear opals, seems to himself or her- 
self to carry proof of his philosophy equally 
about him. Neither one experiences fear, one 
braves, and the other avoids it. But of course 
the larger soul of the two has nothing to avoid. 
It all comes back to the attitude of mind. 
"I myself am heaven or hell." 

It is borne in upon me even more strongly 
of late, that he who has the most perfect re- 
ligion in his heart, will be not overpowered 
with the seriousness of life, but will see its 
lovely proportions, and will have consciously 
always in his soul, as well as the solemn and 
earnest, the beautiful, the joyous, the glori- 
ous! 

His conception of God and of man, is ever 
more enlarging. Man cannot yet conceive so 
high an ideal for man, as the Infinite God has 
conceived of, for him, and unto which man is 
destined to eventually attain. 

One of our mental scientists says that when 
she was beginning to study mental science, she 
came across a saying by old Friar Lawrence 



as THE RELIGION OF JOY 

of the Middle Ages, "Practise the Presence of 
God." She wrote it as a motto, and pinned it 
up in her room. "Practise the Presence of 
God." "God, the regal guest." And she came 
to realize that there was no thought, no con- 
ception of behavior, too high to follow out, if 
she were in the presence of a regal guest. 
How the soul must grow to receive Him 
fittingly. She quotes from Emerson, "How 
beautiful is the soul that is regal, gracious and 
as pleasant as roses." 

I found somewhere this little stanza, 

''Every morning seems to say 
There's something happy on the way^ 
And God sends love to you!" 

We might add: 

Every evening breathes a prayer 
Of gratefulness for your souFs share 
Of faith divine in you. 

Oh^ joy, which bursts the bonds of mind 
And wings the soul to seek its kind. 
The joy with God for you! 

Love, love divine is a fairy wand, which turns 
sorrow and trial into joy and opportunity! 
The burning out of the baser metals, leaving 
only pure gold; leaving only a serene, patient, 



THE RELIGION OF JOY £9 

universal, all-comprehensive love. A love which 
must act to help on. 

Love comes from our Father, 
He alone owns it all; 
He gives when we rise by it, 
Takes when we fall. 

There is absolutely no limit to the love you 
may have, if you seek it divinely holding God's 
hand. 



Can I hold to such a religion of love and 
joy? With no trials and complainings? No! 
by no means always ! Not now ; but in time 
or eternity, I hope to do so. 

I must remember always that conditions are 
small and powerless to hurt me, but sacred and 
possible to help me on. 

Matthew Arnold says: 

"Tasks in hours of insight willed, 
Can be through hours of gloom fulfilled/' 

Oh, God, all the love of my heart and mind 
and soul flows to Thee; Thee, Thee alone may 
I adore! All my power stands pledged to 
Thee. For Thou art the All-perfect. 

Show me where to use my power, the how, I 
cannot help knowing. All my life hast Thou 



30 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

been teaching me the how. Not as I would 
in the old impulsive way, but as I would 
thoughtfully, as Thou, oh God, wouldst have 
it. 

How kind is every shepherd on the mountain 
to his little flock ! Make me a shepherd within 
my range. 

I cannot give equally to everyone materially ; 
I cannot give equally to everyone mentally; 
but spiritually, the quality of the spirit with 
which each is met, the same quality which Thou, 
oh God, poureth upon all, I too must pour. 
Cheerfulness, optimism, harmony, love, these I 
can feel and give to all. How? By holding 
in thought the realization of Thy equal love 
for all Thy struggling children ; and remember- 
ing that nothing, no conditions can ruffle my 
inmost calm in the knowledge of how precious 
is Thy divine love ; and by holding to a steady 
faith in Thee — a faith larger than reason, lar- 
ger than death. The stronger the test, the 
surer the fact of Thy perfect divine love and 
trust opening within me, which Thou wisheth 
me to have. In time all will be well. In time 
all will be ideal. Hold me firmly by Thy hand. 

Now let me take the universal thought, let 
me seek by Thy power to be as God to each 
and all, a guardian of Thy realm. Round up 
my lesser self, to follow the divine self, which 
Thou hast put into me. Adoring Thee, trying 



THE RELIGION OF JOY SI 

to give up all selfish self to Thee, I seek to 
work on Thy lines, my Father, It is no mar- 
tyrdom. It is kingship ! It floods the soul 
with divine possibilities ! I, too, am divine ! 
Thou hast so made me! Nothing can daunt 
me. Thou alone art my beacon light. " Lead 
on, I'll follow Thee ! " 

Amen. 

THE JOY OF FAITH 

Man sees but a limited space on the time-line, 
God sees a long, long distance. Trust Him! 
Have perfect faith in Him. He will make all 
things work together for good — with man's 
co-operation. We should feel sure of this. No 
matter how large or crushing a sorrow may 
loom, remember things will work together for 
the best good of all in God's perfect time : and 
faster if we will but help Him more. If we 
had God's vision, we would see the difficulties 
in the conditions, the pressures brought to 
bear, physically, mentally, spiritually. We 
would know that God was always right. 

The human is often wrong, but in time, with 
God's light, it will work out the right. In the 
large benign scheme of life no human souls are 
meant to fully satisfy here. Those with whom 
we are developing are incomplete. Those who 
are nearest completion, and satisfy us best, 



32 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

are often taken from us, perhaps to show us 
that the fullest spiritual life is beyond, is with 
God, and is only lent us here for a time, by 
our Heavenly Father to draw us up. 

You say that when we become wiser on the 
physical side, we will save many more lives. 
True, but in the loss of the physical life, is 
found a larger compensation, in the gain of a 
greater mental and spiritual life — on the part 
of the one taken, and just as truly, in the 
seeking of the ones left behind. But it is diffi- 
cult to realize this, for a time. How lonely 
we feel when a loved one has gone on ahead of 
us ! We should not feel as we do. We believe 
that he is better off. The dear ones are all 
together on the other side. But there is al- 
ways a something that hurts — the thought that 
we might have done better for him in some 
ways. Friends always feel this in each case. 
But we have no right to stab ourselves with 
this thought. (How real and powerful a dag- 
ger thought can be.) We did the best we 
could, according to our conditions. There we 
must let our tired hearts rest. We owe it to 
ourselves, our friends, our responsibilities, and 
to our Heavenly Father, to check the painful 
thought, and not injure our constitutions and 
neglect our work, by profitless distress. 

There is a sacred sanctuary being prepared 
in the hearts of each in a bereaved family, 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 33 

where God is making all holy and sweet. There 
none other need enter. Time will soften and 
give the farther vision. I can't help feeling 
that if we did but know the ' spiritual gains 
which death brings, a knowledge of which God 
is purposely withholding from us until we are 
fit for it, we would joy in the promotion of the 
departed one, we would long to share this 
promotion, and have all our friends so share. 
But the time is not yet ripe, and we need the 
further discipline and opportunities of earth 
first. In our grief, we thank God for our grow- 
ing sympathies. It is selfish to grieve over- 
much. We can make our grief an ascension- 
robe for the soul. And we rise with the 
thought that we, too, are honored with our very 
own in the heavenly circle ; it is our most pre- 
cious possession, ever lifting and ennobling us. 
You remember that when the children at a 
party were bragging of worldly possessions in 
this wise: 

" *My dress came from Paris^ 
We sent to Worth for it, 
Mother says she calls it such a fit !' " 

One little maiden quietly said : 

'' 'I have a little brother gone to heaven !' '* 
"All the little flounces 
Rustled where they fell." 



34 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

"Quick my heart besought her 
Silently^ 

Happy little maiden, 
Give^ oh give to me 
The highness of your courage^ 
The sweetness of your grace 
To say a large word 
In a little place/' 

Is your faith true and strong and practical? 
Do you realize the 



GLORY OF DEATH 

God in His wisdom, 

God in His mercy, 

God in His loving kindness to all. 

Gathers His weak ones. 

Gathers His frail ones, 

Home at the sound of His tender call. 

These are not our souls. 
These are God's own souls, 
God knows the time when 
Each one shall come. 
Lent for our growth on. 
Sent for their growth up, 
God knows the time when 
Each one shall go! 

Warmth of divine love 
Then re-creates them, 
light of divine joy 
Gives spirit-breath. 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 35 

Thus God refreshes^ 
Thus are souls lifted^ 
Joyous and God-like! 
Glory of Death. 

Radiant vision^ 
Self-love is vanquished^ 
Clear-eyed the insight^ 
Gold from alloy. 
Real the ideal^ 
Loving as God loves_, 
Serving from loving_, 
Blissful God-joy! 

Then we will weep not^ 
Then we'll be brave hearts^ 
Onward our work calls_, 
Prove love and faith! 
They are God's helpers^ 
Guarding us safe now^ 
Joyous their service! 
Glory of Death ! 

Paeans of Praise then^ 
Let them ring loudly ! 
God gave us birth> and 
God gives us Death! 
Leading us onward^ 
Drawing us upward 
See the realms radiant! 
Glory of Death ! 

And it may be that one day the race will be 



36 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

wise enough, so that all may keep perfect phy- 
sical and mental health, up to the very moment 
when each one shall say for himself, now, my 
spirit of Thy spirit,, it is time — time for you 
to leave this earth for the larger realms of 
more light and fuller joy. Every here and 
there we hear of some old person who slips thus 
quietly away in bed at night. 

Pseans of praise and symphonies of ascen- 
sion will sweeten and purify the air. And 
faithless signs of lugubriousness and selfish 
mourning will be no more. 

No, so-called sacrifice, is not real sacrifice. 
It is giving up the lesser for the greater 
spiritual gain, always. Death is of this kind. 
Death is part of God's great benign scheme. 
It is not sacrifice if understood. And it is 
kindly to us, although we do not realize it. 
It leads us not to place too much weight upon 
the physical and the material, but to hold to 
a large-souled nobility, which is the evolving 
eternal, and to trust and rest upon God's man- 
agement. 

Such trust will buoy me on any waters ; such 
love will comfort me on any strands ! And I 
will be carried back from love of God to love of 
His children : with a longing to help those who 
do not see God's plan as so comprehensive, and 
so gracious. This is only common-sense and 
reason, and an enlarging capacity for love. 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 37 

Of course I must not sit down and expect 
God to do it all. I must be up and striving — 
my level best. Do I not know that if the little 
individual will do its level best, more surely, 
far more certainly, I can rely upon the Divine 
doing His perfect best. 

Holding up my part lovingly, not grudg- 
ingly, makes me happy in the doing, brings me 

joy. 

Why again, you ask, do I not always mani- 
fest this radiant faith, and show this joy? 

Because of my own limitations, and because 
of the limitations of others — never because of 
God's limitation. He gives me the glass brim- 
ming over. 

But my body must be healthy, my brain 
sane, and my soul pure from selfishness, to keep 
me always in the right attitude of mind, and 
keep me always living up to this vision. And 
when one realizes that every other soul in the 
world, must be sanely striving upward, to bring 
out always the perfect harmonies, it is easy 
to see why our faces are not always sweet and 
strong and joyous, and our lives do not stay 
always keyed to the grandeur of things. 

Yet the helpful, holy, central thought is, that 
the individual soul in its harmony with God 
may reach and may hold, to this loving joy 
ever more strongly, despite all opposing con- 
ditions. 



38 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

Throughout nature we see actions and re- 
actions, to keep the balance true. We would 
be unbearable to our fellow-men, if we flaunted 
the thought that we had absolutely and forever 
arrived. It is seeing another soul in its strug- 
gle, and nearing a victory, which fires and in- 
spires us to try more zealously. 

This little verse of my father's has always 
been so helpful. 

"Men have craved greatness whom the fates with- 
stood^ 

All in this world may not be greatly wise. 
But whoso striveth may be greatly good, 

For in the effort, the attainment lies." 

And the wonderful rest and repose which 
such a joyous faith gives us. 
With Pippa we can sing: 

"God's in His heaven, — 
All's right with the world !" 

Divine love vibrates between God and man, 
and brings faith infinite and perfect. To me, 
nothing but love brings this great faith. I 
used to think I had faith, and I had some faith. 
I loved God blindly and theoretically, and 
loved heroes and heroines often, and followed 
reason as far as was usual. Now I know the 
sources of more faith. And I am sure it will 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 39 

continue to grow — whether in leaps and 
bounds, or slowly, I know not. My love was 
boundless, yet could find no resting-place large 
enough this side of God. This is not strange. 
It is a universal law. Each soul is gradually 
thus learning. 

Why should my soul so insist upon finding 
God and His love? Because I must seek and 
seek the perfect. Nothing short of the perfect 
will satisfy. I am not perfect. I cannot 
satisfy myself. So, no more of me ! I must 
have something ideal to draw myself toward, 
to love ! The human, without the God develop- 
ment, means the limited. I will be satisfied 
with no limits ! Hence I reach out to the more 
than human — to God, with a grasp for life! 
spiritual life! perfect life! God has thus con- 
stituted each one of us. He has put the God 
element mithin us, and it must seek its ozcn. 



JOY FOR GOD S HELPERS 

I have often wondered at how much time 
most men spend in calculating their material 
gains, and women, in bemoaning their physical 
losses. If men consider themselves as poor 
things with their noses to the grindstone, how 
sad it is, and they will be poor things with 
their noses to the grindstone as long as they 
consider themselves as such. If women feel 



40 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

themselves over-strained and under-appreciated, 
how tragic that can be ! But change the men- 
tal attitude, rejoice In your power to assist 
and lift, and realize the exaltation of helping 
on God's work, no matter how simple or limited, 
or unknown, your little corner may be. God 
knows and you know. That Is enough. 

Inspire yourselves with what God might say 
to you, If you only deserved It: 

Oh rest, little heart of my heart, 
Then peace, little soul of my soul. 
Thou hast earned the well-done, 
My own consecrate son, 
God-consciousness always thy goal. 

Thy heart fires all hearts but to serve. 
Thy strength resting broadly on mine; 
And no human tie could, 
Were it ever so good. 
Exalt like the Infinite God. 

Then rest, little heart of my heart. 
And peace, little soul of my soul. 
Thou hast earned the well-done. 
Oh my strong steadfast son. 
Communion with God is thy goal. 

How joyous It will be when men and women 
pause more to consider their mental and spirit- 
ual gains. One will feel^ now, hereafter, 1 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 41 

am equal to any such conditions ; hereafter no 
such conditions can unsettle me. My faith 
and joy are growing! With God's help and 
His power, I have arrived so far. Lead me 
on! 



Men are spending at present so much of 
their time upon means to an end, means to 
live on a material plane, and women are being 
so widely educated, that women who realize 
these two trends, may more and more come to 
feel the God-consciousness, that they must hold 
up the spiritual view of life to the business 
men. That is what we should be doing! 

The time will come when people will be 
ashamed to have more than so much of any 
material thing. Instead of flaunting them, 
rich people will want to hide their riches, as 
much as poor people now try to hide their 
poverty. 

Some ultra modern thought is even claiming 
that American man, if he is not careful, will 
come to be a development halfway between 
women and the animals. I hope we are not so 
unscientific. But women can encourage moral 
integrity in business ; and not only the quid 
pro quo, but the spiritual attitude of giving 
a cup running over. And in social life, we 
can spread the love of truth, and vigorous, 
noble ideals. And in the home life, we can give 
the bit of poetry,, or the appreciation of art, 



42 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

its evening place for the busy man. But above 
all, we can here in the home-life, hold fast to 
the ideals. Few brains are so continuously 
tied to figures or baking-powder, that they 
may not find sufficient room to soar to the 
needed vision. 

We must remember, not that it takes two 
to make a quarrel, but rather that we are rep- 
resenting the God within us. Can we, know- 
ing that we are responsible for that manifesta- 
tion, lose sight of this lofty ideal, so far as to 
grovel in hate, insult or retaliation? Never! 
No matter what is said or done to us, no mat- 
ter how irresponsible another's attitude may 
be, let us bear witness that we will hold fast 
to our ideals. His ideals. Remember we are 
divine: we must not allow ourselves to scold, 
to lose heart, or to worry, but joy in giving 
our God-given inspiration to the home. 

It is said that the Japanese put the picture 
of a fish, a carp, outside of the door when a 
boy is born, to indicate the power to overcome 
obstacles and surmount difficult conditions, as 
the carp is the only fish whose habit it is to 
swim against the current. The Japanese boy 
is trained so to overcome and surmount. 
There is certainly a helpful suggestion here. 
But little gain and small joy seems to me in 
the work of cold duty and overcoming com- 
pared with the exalted enthusiasm of loving to 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 43 

overcome as God's helper, God loving, sympa- 
thizing, empowering, all along the way. This 
is joy. Not a thoughtless, superficial joy, but 
a thoughtful, deep-abiding satisfaction and 
trust, which knows that all will be well and 
right, despite the many short-visioned glooms 
and difficulties, if we but rise to the stature of 
our manhood, and help God to manifest the 
good to man, and exalt man to God's joy. 

God is necessary to man, but man is just as 
necessary to God. The exaltation of joy comes 
in this working together, this bringing in of 
grand returns of matter, mind and spirit. We 
specialize in God's large laws, and we work 
out His ideals with Him. God thinks ideals 
and creates. Man thinks ideals with God, and 
creates after Him. 

If we write it as a formula, man -f- nature 
(without God = — (negative) satisfaction ; 
man -|- human-nature (without God), whether 
self or others = — (negative) satisfaction ; 
man -|- God, whether in nature or in human- 
nature, or in whatever way = -|- (positive) 
satisfaction, complete satisfaction, supreme 
spiritual satisfaction; and abounding joy. 

As Mrs Browning says: 

"Nor man nor nature satisfies 
Whom only God created." 

I see one of my readers suddenly aroused 



44 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

to a rather pugnacious attitude, and hear her 
exclaim, "Who is writing this anyway, what 
authority has she for her statements?" 

I answer meekly, I am a middle-aged woman, 
of average most things, American-born, of an 
English father and American mother — of a 
scholarly family, and a family of Quaker-like 
simplicity. The women in it were all strong- 
minded, and the men all married strong-minded 
women. I was college-bred, then took a medi- 
cal course, but decided that this semi-public 
work did not satisfy me. So I married a faith- 
ful husband, had four children, three are liv- 
ing. 

I have average most things, perhaps more 
than average of a deep spiritual enthusiasm, 
and this is my justification for writing; or be- 
cause of this, it is obligatory for me to write. 

Just remember that I am another human 
soul that has to say its say; and longs to 
light the path for the dear oppressed ones 
in all the quiet corners, and for all wearied 
human souls I would that they might catch 
the vision! It is love, rebirth, joy! 

If God said to you. The world is in need of 
another divine appearance, another divine man, 
another Christ, I will exalt you to this place! 
How you would throw yourself into His serv- 
ice! Your selfish ambition would also be ap- 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 45 

pealed to. But suppose He said this same 
thing, adding. But my son, you will never be 
a striking figure before the world, as was 
Christ, covered with the glory and praise of 
men — you and your God alone will know of 
your service. Would you still be as enthusi- 
astic and earnest in the service? 

I believe God is telling each one of us to 
be a divine appearance, at least in some small 
way. Perhaps eventually, the most truly mod- 
est will be before some world or worlds in a 
larger way. He who truly humbles himself in 
the sense of being least self-conscious, and 
most God-conscious, being most exalted. 

RABIA 

*'Rabia^ sick upon her bed^ 
By two saints was visited^, — 

Holy Malik^ Hassan wise^ — 
Men of mark in Moslem eyes. 

Hassan says, 'Whose prayer is pure 
Will God's chastisement endure.' 

Malik, from a deeper sense. 
Uttered his experience: 

*He who loves his master's choice 
Will in chastisement rejoice.' 



46 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

Rabia saw some selfish will 

In their maxims lingering stilly 

And replied^ 'O men of grace^ 
He who sees his master's face 

Will not^ in his prayer recall 
That he is chastised at all.' " 
— Translated by James Freeman Clarke. 



THE VOICE WITHIN 

At glad sun-rise the voice within 

Spake thus and said_, 
Oh son^ speed forward to a glorious day, 
The field is yours, the triumph yours. 

And yours the way! 

At heated dusty noon, the voice 

Spake still, and said. 
Oh son, a steady pace, though slower gait. 
Give up the work for self, and others 

Serve, and wait. 

The sun is low — a gorgeous west. 

And east, and south, 
And north. The voice says. Turn, oh son, from 

self. 
From others, to your God. The God 

Within, the God 

Throughout, 
Oh, everywhere 'tis God! 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 47 

A man said to me the other day, "If re- 
ligion helps in daily life, then it is worth while ; 
if it doesn't, it isn't ! " Let us again try Prof. 
James' test. Does religion help in daily life? 

Do the so-called religious people or the so- 
called non-religious people, live the better life? 
That is not the question. We should not con- 
sider the "so-calleds" at all seriously. We 
should consider the people whom we consider 
truly religious in the sense of "good" and 
those whom we consider far from religious, and 
"bad." In our own personal experience, those 
whom we believe to be the good ones, are the 
ones we think of as truly religious, and they 
certainly live the better lives in our estimation. 
For this is a work on personal religion, ap- 
plying our own personal standards as nearly 
God-given as we can make them. Outside of 
our own personal experience, the races who 
are considered the more essentially religious 
ones, are certainly in advance of the others. 
But are they always in advance in all things? 
In courtesy, gentleness, kindliness, and brother- 
hood? They are if their religion is true in 
those ideals, and they are living up to it. 
But some of the religions emphasize courtesy 
and kindliness, but with them self-effacement 
and a lack of ideals of progress. Self-efface- 
ment and a lack of progressive ideals when 
extreme, are as bad as the other extreme, of 



48 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

bombastic behavior and rushing headlong into 
all new ventures. Of what kind of ideals is 
the true religion composed? We answer 
promptly, of the highest of which man's 
thought is capable, as near to God's thoughts 
as he can come — of nobility, not meanness, of 
kindliness not hostility, of unselfishness not 
selfishness, a put-yourself-in-his-place religion 
and an uplift for all. 

The living up to any religion has been rare. 
The struggling toward it has been constant. 
The living up to the Religion of Joy with 
God has been rare, though not so rare as we 
often imagine. The quiet, modest men, but 
with a glow at their hearts, have generally 
come the nearest to this living up. The so- 
called martyrs. They don't call themselves 
martyrs: they were filled with a joyous vision. 
I believe there is much more good at the pres- 
ent time, than bad, in the world — and that 
there has always been, on the whole, more of 
good than of bad, in man. (That is, the good 
is the God-part; the bad is a hindered expres- 
sion of the good.) Optimism holds, optimism 
helps materially and lovingly. An optimistic 
religion of any kind, a religion of joy, which is 
grand, deep optimism, would help the world on 
mightily. All the world loves a lover? Why? 
Because he is an optimist, an idealist. 

But of course the religion of to-day is the 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 49 

daily life, is the application; but the right 
thought must be back of the application, to 
make the right expression in the daily life. 
In other words, there are steps in religion: 
ascending, on the time line: there is an enir- 
phasis in each age. Or, there is development in 
religion, in the individual and in the race, from 
the seed time to the glorious fruitage. 

What religion has produced the noblest men 
and women? Can we say? Or do about so 
many saints and heroes appear here and there, 
all over the globe, stirring and comforting the 
masses, in whatever age or race or clime ; plac- 
ing the emphasis where it is most needed? 
Good men abound despite limiting interpreta- 
tions of religion, and every religion has its 
fundamental truths. 

It would seem a comparatively simple step 
for some student of religious histories, to 
analyze and separate what might be called the 
pure religion of each type, and then compare, 
and find what helpful core lay at the center of 
each, which was common to all. This would 
be a splendid work for one of our progressive 
ministers. 

I believe it would be found to be spiritual 
love (divine love) on fire to manifest itself in 
universal service to God. I would write that 
in italics. Spiritual love on fire to manifest 
itself in wniversal service to God! God-Love^ 



50 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

-fired hy God-Joy! No matter by what ap- 
proach, this attitude of mind might be reached, 
this would be the end sought, the beginning of 
a conscious true religion. 

Many people depend upon themselves alone, 
or think they do, and form their own ethics, 
and work upon this, and find it enough. But 
as the spirit within soars and grows, a deeper 
religious meaning is longed for, is craved. 
Then comes the need for something greater 
and wiser than the ethics, than the self, some- 
thing wiser than the hero, or even the laws. 
Then rest and calm come only with the settled 
faith in a loving all-wise universal personality. 
To this loving Intelligence, directing all souls, 
laws, powers, our soul flows out in rapt adora- 
tion, love and praise. Only let us prove our 
devotion, nothing else will satisfy. 

Is there any joy stronger and sweeter than 
knowing and being known in the ideals ! in the 
infinite reaches, in the measureless strengths? 

This loving Intelligence is letting us grow 
into His loving Intelligence, we are becoming 
one with God. The extent of what this may 
mean is almost unthinkable to our present 
finite development of brain. 

If it makes me better, more joyous, more 
kindly, to run my religion on into speculative 
channels, it is the thing for me to do. If it 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 61 

works better for me to throw the responsibility 
off, and stop there, and not do much thinking 
for myself, but just live up to the golden rule, 
and try to keep cheerful, then I must do that. 
If it works best for you to exalt yourself and 
your powers, and give the next man the same 
chance, then that interpretation of religion is 
best for you — the God within. But I do 
maintain that it should be affirmative and joy- 
ous as far as it goes : and progressive ! No 
man may yet attain to the farthest limit of 
God-realization and j oy ! 

But to whatever point a man has attained, 
as he finds himself stronger, nobler, more joy- 
ous, he is content only if he may give this joy 
to others, pass it on, or try to do so. And 
this he may do only by awakening within the 
other the immediate next step of development 
to which he in his turn has come. There is al- 
ways someone ahead of you ! There is always 
someone behind you! Get inspiration! Give 
inspiration ! Live on the heights, live richly, 
thoughtfully, helpfully, joyously! 

God gives us just so much energy. We can 
accumulate and direct it, or we can fritter it 
away. We can turn our energy into spiritual 
lines, or we can hold it in a physical leash. 

I believe there is a certain proportionate 
convertibility of energy, in the diff'erent planes 



52 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

of the physical, mental and spiritual, in life and 
in death. In time we may indeed be wise 
enough to scientifically weigh the soul, measure 
the soul-energy, given certain conditions of the 
body. We are inclined to laugh at this 
thought now. 

The physical, mental and spiritual in ulti- 
mate perfection blend all together, and no sharp 
lines can be found. And yet I believe the pro- 
portions of the physical, mental and spiritual 
will one day be known as definitely as we now 
know that in a triangle the square of the hy- 
pothenuse is equal to the sum of the squares 
of the other two sides. And marvelous com- 
putations with the soul will be ours. As the 
physical energy wanes there are marvelous ac- 
cessions to the spiritual energy — ^whether the 
ego can always manifest them to us or not. 

I believe the physical expressed as energy is 
easily converted into mental energy, and vice 
versa; that energy is the missing-link, is the 
common denominator, the harmonizer, the clear- 
ing-house, in the silly so-called struggle of the 
last twenty-five years, between Science and Re- 
ligion. As though there could be a struggle 
between Science and Religion ! 

Practically speaking (practical for our 
present day advancement, when so many of us 
are studying these practical steps from our 
mental science teachers), we can draw upon 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 53 

the world energy, the God-energy, by holding 
a receptive, restful attitude of mind and body, 
and with what might be called systematic or 
scientific prayer. So the associations of energy 
within us may grow better, larger, more useful, 
ever. 

Practically, in directing our energy in our 
daily life, we should be able to use much finer 
self-control than we do ; certainly here, in the 
western world. But as self-control is control- 
ling the bad, it may have too much of the nega- 
tive about it for our philosophy, our religion. 
We would always go further, be affirmative. 
We would not set out to inhibit only, but to 
speed on and upwards ; we would turn the cur- 
rent of our energy into the higher reaches of 
life. We would direct our thoughts with pur- 
poseful, creative motive into higher mental and 
spiritual channels. Mathematically speaking 
apply the resolution of forces from the physi- 
cal into the mental and spiritual realms. 
Choose high, noble work and purpose in life, 
and stick to it, and put your energy into it; 
and then you will not have energy left to run 
you away into unworthy living. 

If we find God, we can no longer rest with- 
out turning to our fellow-men. We have not 
found Him, unless we are fired with the longing 
to help. But how are we to reach the great 



64 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

mass of people who are groaning in misery? 
They should be joyous, with a solemn joy of 
love and faith. 

We must show them the light, and so change 
their mental attitude. 

How are we to teach them? We can, as al- 
ways, begin with the children. How would we 
teach a child? The theory that the child 
should not be taught to do a thing because of 
love of mother, receives a larger interpretation. 
The child should be taught to do it, not because 
it is a cold hard duty, but because it is a warm 
lovable right. What do I mean by that? It 
is right because the all-loving kind Father of 
us all, tells us it is right. And the father or 
mother or teacher is trying to show God's 
loving right, to the child. God tells mamma 
and papa that it is right. Papa and mamma 
tell the child, until the child is old enough to 
hear God's loving voice himself. 

A deep faith should be, gradually and from 
the beginning, taught to the child of an unfail- 
ing love for him by a Heavenly Father ; a love 
which longs for a loving return. 

A child is very imaginative, and can create 
his mental concept of God better than can 
many an adult. And an early concept, ever 
enlarging, will stay by the youth, and go on 
helping him through all of his life. 

Make love the source, the cause of the child's 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 55 

accomplishment, not duty. But love of right, 
of goodness, of God. 

Do you see no difference between a child 
doing something because he knows you will 
make him do it, if he doesn't, though he hates 
to, and a child coming to you, and saying, 
"Why, mother, I did it because I loved to do 
it, because you wanted me to do it, and it was 
right, and God wanted me to do it, and so I 
loved to do it." How your heart would warm 
toward the child, and your spirit swell and as- 
pire to be worthy of such a son. You feel that 
he is a noble child. You thank God if you 
have been wise enough to let him develop thus 
naturally, instead of forcing his large sweet 
soul into some superficial and conventional 
mould. Is it fair to the child to let him give 
all the love to you, and all the credit to you, 
when it does not belong to you, but to God? 
If from babyhood up the little one were taught 
that it was a love and a power, back of you, 
and back of everyone, and everything, which 
you and he both were following, would he not 
look for that love and power everywhere? 
And learn gradually to discriminate? And 
would it not sustain him better, when father 
or mother were not there? Take him back to 
the source ! 

A child must be taught obedience? Yes. 
But obedience to right, not to wrong. And 



56 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

the parent has got to have some definite stand- 
ard of right : and that standard we are safe in 
calling God, as revealed to the heart of man. 
An ever enlarging revealment. 

Martineau's seat of authority in religion is 
The Soul of God in the heart of man. In 
giving this seat of authority be sure and em- 
phasize, never anger, but love and joy. So 
that, God to the child, means always a loving 
and joyous God, and he gradually acquires the 
right mental vision of God, and work for this 
loving Heavenly Father grows more easy. 

If your parent heart glows with a love for 
an obedient small son, how much more largely, 
will God's heart glow with love for an obedient 
older son ! 

The mass generally admires heroes and 
power, thinks of God vaguely, theoretically 
loves Jesus, but generally not enough to want 
to show it. The mass is governed through its 
human loves and fears. When, then, we take 
away the fear of Hell and the Devil, of the old 
narrow interpretation, we find a lack of power 
to control that sort of nature. It is controlled 
by its human loves. If this man is not to be 
checked by fear of Hell, he must be controlled 
through love of Heaven. Now the problem is 
how to make the love of Heaven so attractive 
that it has double strength. By the love of 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 57 

Heaven, of course we mean the love of God, the 
love of Good, the Joy with God as our minds 
and consciences reveal it to us. Telling does 
not usually teach as experiencing does. But 
though, with every man, this love of God will 
come in time, it may be so slow in developing, 
that we long to hasten the coming. Men often 
love things which in their narrow vision they 
think are God-like, but which are not God-like. 
And they must learn through experience of 
their own or of others, to discriminate. 

This is one thing that helps me, and so 
might help others. It is the vision of the ideal, 
beyond the real, but which is the truly real, 
toward which the so-called real is tending, 
which will alone satisfy. That ideal is really 
God, in some one of His manifestations. But 
many people do not realize this. They idealize 
the human side. 

No child, parent, sister, brother, friend will 
absolutely satisfy, but the ideal of each, the 
God within, toward which each is tending, as 
he becomes more God-like. Dwell on this vi- 
sion. This is especially helpful in the home. 
But remember, it is not usually the so-called 
human-side, but the God-side which should be 
emphasized: the unselfish, less-narrowly per- 
sonal, side, which should be appreciated and 
developed. 

A young man, in speaking of the young wo- 



58 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

man whom he had picked out to be his wife, 
said, "Mother, it is not so much what she is, 
but what she is going to be !" If each one 
would bear that constantly in mind, and lov- 
ingly hold it up to those near, and for whose 
development we are therefore more or less re- 
sponsible, it would help to make the ideal, real. 
It is God manifesting Himself in our loved ones, 
which we love! Appeal to the best in them ! 

A woman I knew used to say such delightful 
things about every acquaintance, that I finally 
said to her, "You have certainly kissed the 
Blarney stone !" "Oh, no," she answered, "you 
misunderstand me. I feel that these lovely 
things are nearly true, or ought to be true, of 
certain people, and seeing themselves pictured 
or emphasized in that light, helps to bring them 
up to that height." 

A wonderful mother once said in my hear- 
ing, "I believe that every girl ought to grow 
up feeling that she is beautiful, charming, bril- 
liant, true and good, with all the lovely quali- 
ties which go to make up a lovely girl. 
It will help her up to that standard." 
"But," I said, "suppose her mirror tells her 
otherwise?" "Then," she said, "she would bet- 
ter not look into her mirror. Let her imagine 
herself so, at least, and she will feel more at 
ease, with a larger freedom, a greater ability, 
and will be of more service, and she will grow 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 69 

much more rapidly toward that ideal. She will 
allow the God-within to express itself more 
easily." 

Ask God to change your thought toward 
all to one of harmony, helpfulness and peace. 
Ask Him to let you see with His vision, as far 
as He can; to see universally. And the 
strength and joy which passeth expression 
will grow and enlarge within your soul. Ask 
God to help you to teach others to joy with 
Him. 

Someone tells us to stretch out our arms 
every morning when we awake, and say, dear 
everybody, I love you! 

PRAYER 

Our Father who art everywhere, within us 
and around us, leading us and loving us, teach 
us to know and to love Thee: to realize that 
true love is like Thy love, unselfish, pure and 
universal. And may we hasten to grow from 
any selfish love, and to grow through limited 
human loves, to the larger love of Thee. And 
may our love for Thee blaze forth as a torch 
to light us through life — so that we may be 
exalted: that we may be no longer content to 
do aught but to make the most and the best of 
ourselves for Thy service, — a service not of 
duty, but of consecrated love, — inspired by 



60 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

a radiant joy of accomplishment with 
Thee. 

And, oh Father, broaden and sweeten our 
attitude toward others. May we be truly lov- 
ing, with Thy love, toward everyone with whom 
we come in contact. May we draw them in 
the most wise and helpful way to Thee. And 
above all, mak^ us able to show them how to 
joy with Thee, that they may have the in- 
spiration to work on and on, for and with 
Thee. 

And reverently do we thank Thee, our 
Father, that we now realize that it is Thy 
Kingdom and Thy Power, Thy Love and Thy 
Joy, which we are seeking and which we are 
prizing, in ourselves, and in all others Thy 
children, and in everything which is about us, 
forevermore. 

Amen. 

In calling out the best in men, we would do 
well to recognize the kind of nature to which 
we are appealing. 

Martineau says men's natures are of three 
kinds, passionate, moral or spiritual. The 
passionate are appealed to, only through an- 
other, so through their loves and friendships, 
we must expect to bring such ones to loving 
God. To moral natures, the strongest appeal 
is the ethical — and such are slow in being fired 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 61 

to exaltation. It will come from long service 
and logical thought. To spiritual natures, 
experience will bring mystical revelation, di- 
rectly into the presence of God. 

Men are of course all more or less mixtures 
of these natures, and can be more or less ap- 
pealed to, through all of these channels, but 
the emphasis is often helpful. 

We are agreed that we are not to frighten 
people into being religious. But there are 
times when we should caution them. We should 
teach them God's scientific laws, such as, that 
health and purity will strengthen the race unto 
the third and fourth generations ; and that a 
lack of following these laws will riddle nations 
with diseased bodies, and depraved brain-con- 
trol, and an exactly proportionate degree of 
lack of sanity. The, mass of our people should 
be trained to understand this. Home talks, 
school-talks, Sunday-school talks, group talks 
(wisely conducted)^ are all needed. We must 
caution our people. 

Cautioning is all very well, but again it is 
inhibition, it is negative, and we must give 
them also the affirmative. We must attract 
them to religion, to something higher and 
sweeter. 

All men are attracted by love and hope. 
Love and faith, which is stronger than hope, 



62 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

are focussed in God, are centered in Him, and 
blaze forth from Him, and from some of his 
children, to strengthen and warm all of His 
children. People must know God, realize Him 
in the best of everything and everyone; they 
must love Him. They must turn to Him for 
the perfect, the logical, the complete. The 
world wants God proved to it. 

You can preach morals to a man forever, 
and tell him to do his duty — that may help — 
but it is cold and hard and unwinning. Turn 
now, and put the emphasis elsewhere, love him, 
give him true spiritual love, put yourself in 
his place, remember when you yourself were 
on his part of the road, when you had gone 
just that far; respect his position, he is prob- 
ably ahead of you in many particulars, and 
lead him gently on. By your love and sym- 
pathy, and consequent help, you may suggest 
to him what God's wondrous love might be. 
Prove to him that God loves him, longs to 
awaken his heart, fire his soul with a love so 
great, so exhaustive, so satisfying, that there- 
after nothing but the lovely, the strong, the 
noble, can put in its appeal. Try to look upon 
him as God would look upon him. That 
man's soul can no more make room for the 
unlovely, the mean, the short-sighted and 
selfish, after it has had the vision, the heart 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 63 

fired with the perfect love and unselfishness of 
God. 

Men often come to work for their fellow-men, 
without knowing themselves to be essentially 
religious. By all sorts of routes, the world 
is coming to an interpretation of religion as 
service. But I call all that the practise of 
ethics, or rather of unconscious religion. The 
raison-d'etre of it all, the reason, the signifi- 
cance, comes to the man, when he grows con- 
scious that God wants him to work for his fel- 
lows. 

When you have only your own mind and 
soul to rely upon, you will always have your 
weak moments : as soon as you become con- 
scious that you have God's heart and strength 
to draw upon, you may be always strong and 
true. You need never fear men or conditions. 

But you must be sure to keep normal, 
healthy and sane; and then keep your heart 
open to God. 

Ella Wheeler Wilcox says: 

"Follow no man^ 

And by no man be led^ 
And lead no man^ 

But know^ and go ahead ! " 

You will then be a leader, whether you would 
or not. 



64 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

Everything is God-given, beauty, brains and 
spiritual power. 

But our individuality makes us not passive 
but active. Active first, to recognize God's 
power; second, to direct it through ourselves. 

I like the story of the Quaker lady, who said 
to the young girl, "My child, what beautiful 
teeth thee has !" and then seeing the conscious 
blush rising over the young girl's face,, she 
added quickly, "Oh, thee need not pride thy- 
self, thee did not make thy teeth!" 

We can appreciate what God has given us — 
and care for it, be it in the material, mental or 
spiritual realm. 

But the masses are coming to God, perhaps 
slowly, yet surely. One of the most important 
discoveries of late, has been that of the divisi- 
bility of the atom as the fundamental unit of 
matter, into vibrations of energy. Energy is 
the connecting link between matter, mind and 
spirit. Thus the realms of matter and spirit 
are being drawn together: of religion and 
science. 

Another step of immense importance in these 
days is the putting of the emphasis upon 
thought, thus making the attitude of mind the 
great thing; thus leading to the formulation 
of a motive in everything. And this is an im- 
mense gain to the life-philosophy, or soul life 
of man. 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 65 

Now if science and religion, or all life, can 
thus be seen to be a unity, purposeful, motive- 
ful, the masses are going to search for the 
motive, and all the while they are being led by 
love, and they will gradually find the unselfish 
personal God, the benign power and energy, at 
the heart of it all. 

Make the churches and all centers of uplift 
the power-houses of spiritual energy, connected 
by cords of love through men's spiritual na- 
tures ; the entire system charged with the divine, 
loving, electrical energy from the great source 
of it all— God. 

Would it not be well if we all stopped more 
often to have our days of reckoning — to con- 
sider whether our relations to our fellow-men 
are all that they should be. 

There comes a time to each one of us when 
he asks himself. What am I in this great uni- 
verse? What is the universe to me? Why 
am I here? What is going to happen to me? 
We must try for unity of thought. We must 
aim for unity of purpose. 

We want to see life and see it whole; or as 
whole as it is possible for us to see it, and ever 
more and more whole as we grow. We start 
with Berkeley and Descartes and the idealists. 
We say, I have the power of thought, I think 
therefore, I exist, I am. 



66 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

My thought-power has come from some 
source. Each man's thought-power has come 
from some source. The source of thought- 
power then must be great, at least as great as 
all man's thought-power put together. Let us 
call that source God, the divine source. Let 
us say all thought-power is from the divine 
thought-power ; all goodness is from the divine 
goodness ; all truth is from the divine truth ; 
all love is from the divine love ; all j oy is from 
the divine joy. Back of all these attributes, 
is the great divine. 

Each one of us is a part of this divine whole. 
We are individualized; we are given free-wills, 
and started to perfect our parts — parts of the 
perfect whole, — God. We are some of God's 
thoughts, manifested. Just as we say we think, 
therefore we exist, we can say, God thinks, 
therefore He exists. This is proof by logical 
inference of God. 

The materialist may say that the ego, the I, 
is held to the past by memory, to the present 
by consciousness, and to the future by will. 
He may say, for instance, that when a so-called 
accident occurs, and memory, consciousness 
and will are done away with, that ... re is no 
ego left. But this is not true. The ego 
through lack of memory tools, consciousness 
tools and will tools, may be inhibited, and can- 
not manifest, but it is there. The God-part 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 67 

IS there, ready to manifest in the I, the you, 
in the individual, as soon as the tools are again 
given it. There is only an inhibition of the 
action of the individualized-free-will of the God- 
part. It has been groping and reaching out 
to express a larger personality, to get in tune 
with the divine, with its divine self, to perfect 
itself, whether it realized it or not, whether 
it has taken a direct, or an apparently indi- 
rect route to that harmony and perfection. 
And as soon as the inhibition is removed, and 
the lines through which it works are again 
ready, whether earthly lines or heavenly lines, 
earth tools or heaven tools, it will work on and 
up, developing itself into a perfect part, al- 
lowing the God-within to shine forth. 

Thought-power is the creative force of the 
universe: thought manifesting the ego. The 
individuality or personality is behind the force, 
using the force. 

How essential it is then, that our thoughts 
should be right, our attitude of mind right, 
unfolding the ego, directing it aright. 

Jane Brownlee, in her system of ethical 
training, has so simple a way of teaching the 
children. She says to the little one, "I can't 
eat your dinner for you, you must eat it for 
yourself, and grow a strong body for yourself. 
Your body is your servant. He will obey you. 
Make him obey! And your mind is another 



68 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

servant. I can't study your lessons for you. 
You must study them for yourself. It de- 
pends upon you whether you are wise like the 
great and helpful men of the world. Make 
your mind obey. You can do it!" 

To induce each individual to take the initi- 
ative and develop himself, is the key-note of 
true development. The knowledge that this 
power is God-given, and that it is because of 
the God-within that he can so develop, is of 
maturer realization. 

Thought then is of paramount inportance, 
and the attitude of mind is everything. 

Laboratory experiments, such as those of 
Prof. Elmer Gates of Washington, are show- 
ing us scientifically that our thoughts and emo- 
tions have a powerful directing effect. 

A passive arm in a bowl of water causes the 
water to rise just so high in the bowl. An 
active arm, even if active only by being acted 
upon, I should rather say, acted upon by that 
great force, thought, will swell, through an en- 
larged blood-supply and increased cell-action, 
and cause the water to rise higher in the bowl. 

If a man be thrown into violent anger a 
precipitate of a particular color, from the 
secretions or from the breath will be formed in 
a given solution. If the man be filled with 
thoughts of nobility and love, a precipitate of 
different color will be seen; blackish, bluish, 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 69 

grayish, according to the mental state. This 
shows that the mind affects the brain and 
nervous system, and this affects the cells of the 
body and they secrete and excrete accordingly. 

An angry man coming into a room of serene 
people affects their serenity, then, in more 
ways than one. There are not only what we 
call mental vibrations affecting the mind, but 
there are physical and chemical reactions tak- 
ing place, so that we indeed feel the atmos- 
pheres of those approaching us. 

In applying the power of thought in our 
daily life, there are steps in the development 
of thought which may be helpful, so I repeat 
them. One may receive a thought by sugges- 
tion, as from a book or a friend, but receiving 
it is not enough. After receiving a thought, 
one must direct it as he would turn the rudder 
of a boat. Then he must give it not only di- 
rection but desire, and love. And by love I 
mean, not passion, not selfish love, but divine 
love, spiritual love, a love which tries to see 
with God's vision. Now one step more, and 
the one for which the others were started. 
Put the thought into action, make it accom- 
plish in God's service, Then your thought has 
manifested and fully perfected itself. 

Let me illustrate: Suppose you say you 
dislike a person heartily. You really don't. 
You only dislike something about the person, 



70 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

something the person has said or done, not 
the person, the person is divine, is the God 
within. But this poor misguided soul has been 
so inhibited by bad conditions, by ignorance or 
what not, that the spark hasn't been able to 
shine forth. God loves him just as much as 
He loves you, and me, and each other one of 
His children. God's light is shining for him 
too, God longs to have him see it. Here you 
can help. You can suggest, and lead. 

Work for God. If you get co-operation 
from others, it is easy. If you do not, you 
must work for two, for three, for any number. 
You can. You have God's power to call upon. 
Alone? Never! With God? Always! 

Take the scorn, rage, hate, abuse, if it be 
piled upon you. See beyond it. See the good 
energy, misdirected. Try to turn it to the 
good. Keep self-control, and not only so keep 
yourself perfectly passive, negative to the bad, 
but return a great flood of love, pity, compas- 
sion, sympathy; and so take a positive atti- 
tude toward the good, of helpfulness. The 
energy of anger will dissolve away into some 
nobler form, through the alchemy of divine 
love. 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 71 

THE JOY OF FIXING OUR IDEALS 
"'love, marriage and divorce" 

In what relations do we stand to our work, 
to our fellows? Suppose I am a daughter, a 
wife, a mother, a housekeeper, a mistress, a 
home-maker, a sister, a friend. We must try 
for a certain unity of feeling. We love many 
people. There must be a unity in all this 
love. We learn that it is God we are loving 
in all these manifestations. There must be no 
in-harmony in our love of these many parts of 
God. Either our so-called love is only selfish- 
ness, or we have a great unity in our love, God- 
given, pure. 

Or, I am a son, a husband, a father, a 
brother, a home-maker, a business-man, a 
master, a trustee or what not. 

Now do I realize what each one of these re- 
lations should be? 

For instance, I have a chance now, it may 
not last long, to be a loyal, loving son. Am I? 
Could I do more for that loving parent heart? 

You remember Heine writes in "An meine 
mutter," "To my mother," how he roamed over 
all the world, searching for love, and returned 
home weary and unsuccessful, and found his 
mother standing in the door to meet him, and 
what he saw shining in her eyes, was the love 
which he so long had sought. The parent 



7a THE RELIGION OF JOY 

gives the sweetest love of all, save God's — the 
purest because most unselfish. 

I will do more for the mother or father. 
I will watch for the little opportunities to help 
or cheer or serve: visit oftener, or write more 
frequently. I will give the little grandson a 
lemon-drop every time he remembers to hold 
Grandma's chair out for her as she seats her- 
self at the breakfast table. I will have the 
little granddaughter tell the story loud enough 
for Grandpa's deaf ears to gather it. 

We are always sure of the parent's blessed 
response. Now is the time to store up sweet 
memories. Let us tell the mother how much 
the strength and sweetness and courage of her 
nature has sustained us. Loving words to the 
father, of an admiration and real appreciation, 
are held very dear. 

How we come to the home-center for balance 
and help ! i 

I am a husband. I have this opportunity 
in life to show to the world what my idea of a 
husband is : What a husband should be. 
My only opportunity ! I have promised God 
to be true, loyal, helpful to her. We are to 
work together, to grow together, to progress 
together. I must see to it that I hold fast to 
this ideal throughout the whole life. And I 
must help the other one to hold fast to it with 
me. All the more if she needs it more. 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 73 

I believe God never says, you cannot work 
out this problem because of any special con- 
ditions or temperaments. I believe God says 
always, work out the fact of this relationship 
to its perfect fulfilment — in holy sanction, with 
reverent ideal : and with a view to the develop- 
ing of the two personalities and any others that 
God gives you to guard. 

We cannot tell how long it will take to solve 
the problem, it may take but a small part of 
our life-time to reach a glorious union, or it 
may take several life-times of one kind or an- 
other. We know not what these bonds may 
mean when prolonged into the hereafter. But 
perhaps it seems logical to conclude that the 
problem is given us to solve, and the time of 
the accomplishment, or perfection of the an- 
swer, depends upon our zeal and persistency 
in realizing this, and solving and not run- 
ning away from or avoiding it. 

We are often fond of doing things for the 
loved one, in our own way, when it would be 
far more satisfactory to him, if we would try 
to do these things for him in his way. One of- 
ten hears such phrases as, "It is not what I 
want, but what you think I want, which you 
are doing." Yes, and this is a very different 
thing. It is the unsympathetic, despotic help- 
ing, not the sympathetic, most loving way. 
There is an element of serving one's self in it, 
of carrying out one's own will in opposition to 



74 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

the will of the one whom we are supposed to be 
serving. 

Try always to take the other one's mental 
attitude, as all benign souls do. 

The lower down, or rather, the less mature 
one of the two is, in married life, the more does 
he need the other one. Marriage is not a legal 
contract only, it is in the nature of things, a 
spiritual development, and it should not be dis- 
solved as can a less far-reaching contract. 
The children are the physical, mental and 
spiritual expression of the union, they point 
out the permanence of the tie. 

Much is said about soul's mates, but I am 
inclined to think that in time and eternity every 
soul is a mate to every other soul. Is it not 
probable, is it not logical, that each soul goes 
over the same general road of development .f^ 
Of course the aim is not so clear to all at one 
and the same time; the rate at which some 
souls develop is slower than that of others. 
Therefore the harmony with which some souls 
work together is more visible. But life is com- 
plex, and perhaps no two people have reached 
exactly the same development on material lines, 
in domestic ways, in art, literature, music and 
philosophy. Each, must find his place, realize 
where he is, and then take his aim, and an ever 
widening enlarging aim it proves to be. 

If we have been over the road on which an- 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 75 

other is travelling, we can sympathize, and if 
we sympathize, we help, and if another has been 
over the road upon which we are about to enter, 
he can inspire us. We must aim to give others 
as much spiritual help as possible, surely as 
much as we receive ; and we will find ourselves 
too busy with all the souls around about us, 
and too much interested in the development of 
all, to give undue emphasis to anyone — the self 
is growing universal. 

I see that I have no right to interfere in the 
solving of the problem of a perfect union be- 
tween any other two. This is too sacred an 
ideal to throw down. Would I rob my neigh- 
bor of his silver? Then surely not of his love, 
of his mental and spiritual ideals. What rob- 
bery to break the golden thread of his ideals ! 
I dare not allow him to do so, if I am at all 
concerned in his relationships. 

The picture of Robert and Elizabeth Bar- 
rett Browning in his poem, "By the Fireside," 
seems to me the true ideal of a perfect wedded 
union. 

"Oh I would feel your brain prompt mine. 
Your heart anticipate my heart. 

You must be just before in fine, 

See, and make me see, for your part. 

New depths of the divine." 

Man is an animal and should be a perfect 



76 THE RELIGION OP JOY 

animal. But he is not an animal only. Man 
is a mind, and should be a perfect mind. But 
he is not a mind only. Man is a spirit, and 
should be a perfect spirit. But he is not a 
spirit only. 

Man can, and in some countries does, live 
mainly as an animal still. (I ought rather to 
say as a physical creature, for anyone who 
knows an intelligent horse or dog or the habits 
of ants and bees, will resent the use of the word 
animal here.) So-called primitive man, who 
lived in this first estate, the physical, simpli- 
fied his marriage relations by entering into 
them through brute force at his any desire, and 
in any number. Four men who seize a girl and 
run away with her in a taxi-cab, have not pro- 
gressed very much further. 

But man has, on the whole, evolved and in 
general has become far more civilized and dis- 
approves of such conduct. Mem, has come into 
his second estate, has emphatically become a 
mental being. He has reasoned and judged: 
and if he had always reasoned and judged 
aright, he would have gone far on his way of 
progress. His mind has penetrated many of 
God's mysteries (formerly so-called), of the 
great natural resources. But a little knowl- 
edge is dangerous. Knowledge without unsel- 
fishness is well known to be a sword. Because 
of it we have had all sorts of moral piracy. 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 77 

Mental cleverness and trickery have often been 
used to exploit feminine ignorance. The mind 
of the mass of men has not risen above the un- 
warranted expression of their physical passions. 
And the mind of the mass effects the mind of 
the individual. Current opinion too generally 
rules the youth. 

A lovely little maid with high ideals is wed- 
ded to a so-called man, who is perhaps any- 
thing but truly manly: or possibly some noble 
fellow is drawn to a woman devoid of pure 
ideals. No wonder that with the many still 
selfish, and the majority not far-sighted, our 
marriages are often criss-cross, and our 
divorces altogether too numerous. 

What is needed? Control of the physical 
and the mental by the spiritual. 

One of our young ministers quotes and en- 
larges the charioteer symbol from Plato. Ho, 
charioteer! drive your steed under control, 
drive your chargers body and mind, control 
them, use them for high purposes ; keep them 
off the worldly roads and drive them upon the 
King's Highway. And spend your energies 
not in accumulating houses and acres and 
stocks and bonds, but in storing up love 
and truth and goodness, the spiritual things, 
which go on with you into the larger life to 
come. 

The age of living in the spirit is fast here. 



78 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

Be a fine animal, be a wise man, but above all 
be a far-visioned spirit! 

A friend said to me the other day, "What 
men need, and what men want, is to have mor- 
als preached to them. In my world, in the 
world of bankers, anything is allowed a man 
if only he is honest in financial matters." He 
is laughed at if he is clever in feminine intrigue. 
Dishonesty in morals is rampant. Dishonesty 
in the home sanctity is overlooked. Why do 
ministers not preach morals? Why does not 
every pulpit and every church take up this 
problem? The ministers are all running off 
into social service. And the churches are mak- 
ing social centers wherein to work. But they 
will find that in these centers a man's morals 
are the key-note to character and helpfulness. 
They cannot escape this same question. If the 
church would only work on this problem, and 
would ring out a clear high morality for each 
human soul, how they would revive and grow ! 
How they would draw men into the congrega- 
tions, and how it would do good! 

You ask what to do, to begin a nobler life? 
First, make a resolve to be noble against all 
odds. Are you not fired by some flash direct 
or indirect, of God's nobility and power! 
What will you do next? Fix that thought so 
firmly in your mind that no difficulties or ob- 
stacles can dislodge it; and you can be noble 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 79 

for yourself, for another, or any number of 
others, in case of need. Hold God firmly by 
the hand, every minute of every day and night. 
Each thought and decision must be a reaching 
after what you believe God's thought and 
decision would be, right then and there. God 
is thinking of you, and thinks of the other one 
just as much. He wants to help you both up- 
ward, to a larger expression of manhood. If 
possible, get your partner in life or in business 
or in society, to also resolve on the highest 
conduct and good for both. If you cannot do 
this, live up to the highest light yourself. And 
if you do, in the end you are bound to draw 
the other up also. In the end, the spiritual, 
"the riper soul," will always win out, will al- 
ways win up. 

Man is a soul. He has a body and mind, 
Man is a spiritual being for man is a spark of 
God, infinite, eternal. His soul continues 
eternally. Matter energy is not lost; mind 
energy and still less, spirit energy, would be 
lost under the developing progression of a 
logical, benign, loving Personality such as wa 
are convinced God is. Whatever is done by 
man's body and his mind, must be done to the 
glory of his spirit — or t'were better left un- 
done. 

The energies must be rightly used, or they 
must be turned into* higher forms of expression, 



80 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

into mental and spiritual living. Man must 
emphasize unselfish, kindly forms of endeavor, 
and he will not have energy to waste wrongly. 

God has designed man to be a social being, 
but man continues to distort God's clear and 
high meaning. Man has learned that he does 
not live alone, and that he is a responsible be- 
ing in an intricate social structure. But he 
does not see that the only sure course of justice 
to others is justice to himself, to his higher 
self, to God's spiritual realm of pure love. 

God places the little child in the arms of the 
young couple as the symbol of the permanence 
of their union. No matter how distorted mar- 
riages may be, no matter how much of a para- 
dox a childless marriage has come to be, God's 
clear word is written large; child-birth, child 
development, child leadership. A child has a 
body, a heart, a mind and a soul to develop. 
And in trying to develop these, we have our 
second chance of developing ourselves. Chil- 
dren teach us, we largely warn them, by what 
we are. How will you try to lead the little 
ones? Where will you lead them? Away 
from all un-sanity, away from unhealthfulness, 
therefore away from impurity even upon physi- 
cal grounds alone. But also upon higher 
grounds, because of their having a higher 
permanent mental and spiritual nature. They 
are living children of a living God! 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 81 

And so, over and over and over again, the 
world leads on the souls of babes. Leading on 
the souls of babes ! That is God's word upon 
marriage. The essence of marriage is the 
initiation into this worldly state of another 
soul: and this soul to be a most visible link 
with the eternal, a permanent link. 

Forevermore the two souls of the couple 
must consider not only self, the higher develop- 
ing, ennobling self, which God intends each of 
them through the lessons of life to become; 
but the couple must now consider each other 
and the new souls drawn to them from God's 
spirit-world, and placed in their care. And 
by parallel logic the couple must consider un- 
selfishness and justice toward all other people 
or couples and their offspring, and eventually 
toward all mankind. No infringement of 
rights, obligations and responsibilities can be 
tolerated. The "diamond nature" of man 
must shine out : must light the path on and up : 
must be an example. God's clear love-light. 
His noble, unselfish, spiritual love-light, is given 
me by my purity of life, by my purity of mar- 
ried life, to help others on with me. 

This marvelous sentence of James Martin- 
eau's holds and thrills me. "The waking echo 
of the heart to the mandates of the riper soul." 
The law of love. The law of development. 
Thus comes all progress. Thrilled by the 



82 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

riper soul — the love of man for nobler man, 
the love of nobler man for noblest God. Love, 
spiritual love, joy the highest joy, spiritual 
satisfaction! The call, the mandates of the 
riper soul! I believe that in this waking echo 
drawn from a heart, lies the highest spiritual 
law. Thus is unselfish love born. Thus does 
unselfish love grow. By the waking echo of 
the heart to the mandates of the riper soul! 
The riper soul calls out an echo like that in 
the heart of the riper soul. Were man as a 
social being wise enough, through this law, he 
would penetrate the meaning and secret of all 
man's love. Were he filled with the meaning 
of this noble law, he would grasp God-con- 
sciousness at its roots. This is the golden 
thread of love upon which man may lean, by 
which he may walk uprightly, with exalted 
vision, through youth, through marriage, and 
married love, and with fatherly love and with 
brotherly love. For is he not holding warm 
in his soul God's love, the highest, the noblest, 
to which all others must conform. The 
echo of his heart is to the mandates of the 
riper soul. Ever, ever, will the heart of man 
echo to the mandates of a riper soul. And 
whoso follows the soul's call, God's up- 
ward call, can rise, whenever needed, above 
the body, can do no injustice to himself or to 
another. 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 83 

" To thine own self be true^ and it follows as 
the night the day, thou canst not then be false to 
any man." 

Listen to the voice of God speaking to the 
purity of thy heart. 

LOYE AND THE MANDATES OF SOUL 

'*The waking echo of the heart to the mandates 
of the riper soul^ with the up-looking love insep- 
arable from such secret sympathy/' 

— James Martineau. 

Ah yes^ Love indeed conquers the whole of man- 
kind^ 

And yet not fleeting passions of immature mind, 

But the passion of passions, when all must con- 
form, 

For the presence of God sweeps our world like a 
storm. 

On the chain of those precious gems known as men's 

souls. 
With their myriad flashings, like fiery coals, 
Is the dazzFing diamond clasp, we call God. 

We adore from the first, those who forward have 

trod. 
And all human the pathway that leads us to God, 
How those souls far ahead hold our hearts in their 

thrall. 
While the souls just behind are a-waiting our call. 



84 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

And these souls that clear-eyed^ draw us on to our 

God 
Are all shining with halos^ of heaven bestowed. 
Now conviction and purpose are writ on our scroll, 
For our hearts are awake to the mandates of soul. 

Comes a sympathy sacred^ up-looking the love, 
For our spirits are bathed in the glory above; 
See the holy of holies has entered our soul. 

Dare intrude on no sanctity due each young soul, 
As we draw to God, helping; all parts of the whole. 
Ever onward, out-reaching, out-yearning our need. 
As bud, blossom and fruit are the sequence of seed. 

Till we're deluged, our Father, immersed in the 

flood 
Of Thy light, and Thy love and Thy purity^ God ! 

Or again, I am a friend. What are the 
ideals of friendship.? A center of inspiration 
to show forth the divine. How.? Why.? Be- 
cause friendship enforces self-control, and if 
worthy the name, goes further, becomes affirm- 
ative and inspires to unselfish, pure life. Be- 
cause a friend, in the sense in which the Ger- 
mans use it, as one of a half-dozen during a 
life-time, is so harmonious that one must draw 
a line somewhere, and say thus far, but no 
further. As these friendships come often after 
the usual ties of life are made, one must be 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 85 

careful not to infringe upon the rights and 
responsible relationships already existing. 
Some form of self-control, whether physical, 
mental or spiritual is needed, according to 
whether the natures put their personal em- 
phasis upon the material, or upon the higher 
things of life. But self-control is a negative 
thing if it is only control against the wrong; 
the friendship must go further, become affirm- 
ative, and inspire to unselfish, universal life. 
And that is exactly what friendships do. 

Friendship is less than married love because 
of the limited physical expression of the love, 
and its consequences. But friendship may 
serve a grand purpose in the life, by going 
further than the married love in flashing forth 
unselfishness to one, to two, three, four and 
eventually many. Our love grows larger, the 
number of those we love grows larger and more 
universal as we grow older, whether we develop 
through one or through many loves. Yet we 
grow to concentrate our personal love upon 
fewer or upon only the higher spiritual natures 
as we go on. Perhaps it is eventually nar- 
rowed to a personal love of one only, of God, 
and a universal love for all. 

Am I helping my friend so that he is nobler, 
stronger, living out his other relationships bet- 
ter, more spiritually, because of my life and 
friendship ? 



86 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

I have made a new friend. What does that 
mean? Why do I joy in his presence, his com- 
panionship? This it means to me. I have 
found another soul groping in the dim light 
for the divine, just as I am doing. We joy 
in recognizing each other's aspirations. I 
would have him say of me, there is a touch of 
the divine in her soul, and I love it, and she 
has helped me to realize the divine in myself. 
She has helped me to find God. 

But I must feel assured that he is a soul liv- 
ing his life in all its true noble relationships, 
else I could not idealize him as a friend. And 
I want him to appreciate that I too am trying 
to do the samel 

Father, help us always to clearly manifest 
our allegiance to Thee — our adoration for Thee 
alone, our only safe guide. Let selfishness, im- 
purity of thought or a lack of holding to our 
ideals, be temptations to us no longer, let us 
be freed from them by rising beyond them, 
to something sweeter, because of our over- 
powering love for Thee, and Thy ideals, our 
true and lofty Comforter. 

The old view was. "I could not love thee, 
dear, so much, loved I not honor more." In 
the Religion of the Personality of God, in the 
Religion of Joy with God, it is not abstract 
cold honor which is on the other side of the 
scales to outweigh. It reads, ^'I could not 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 87 

love thee, dear, so much, loved I not God, His 
marvelous loving personality more, and did I 
not joy with Him, in the manifestations of 
Him, in you, and in me, above all things else." 
He and I have our love which is greater and 
sweeter than I could possibly have in the na- 
ture of things, with any narrower soul. You 
and He will have just such a glorious love. 
Each soul with Him will come to have just 
such an over-brooding and benignant love. 

Or, I am a home-maker. Perhaps my home 
includes only a little lively poodle-dog, or a 
small forsaken waif, or it may contain hus- 
band,, children, friends. Am I making this 
home all that a home should be? Not neces- 
sarily elegant and luxurious, but lovely, cheer- 
ful, helpful, inspiring? A home which the 
children will look back upon with joy of re- 
membrance and restfulness of spirit, and bal- 
ance of power. A home where is vibrating a 
sympathy? a loyalty? a common destiny? 

Not such a home as this. The door bell 
rings ! There is a sudden cessation of sounds 
within. Mother says, "Hush, there's your 
father!" The children all say in subdued 
tones,. "There's father!" Then the father 
enters, like (as I heard a physician say the 
other day) a hawk swooping down upon a 
frightened, huddling hen and chickens. 



88 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

And not such a home as the MuUagatorny 
home was. 



"Mrs. MuUagatorny said^ 'I think it's going to 

rain/ 
Mr. MuUagatorny said^ 'To me it's very plain.* 
WiUiam MuUagatorny said^ ' I think it's raining 

now.' 
Mary MuUagatorny said^ 'It's going to, anyhow.' 
And yet there was not a cloud in sight 
And 'twas a pleasant day, 
But Mrs. MuUagatorny always had to have 

her way. 
With Mrs. MuUagatorny the family all agreed, 
For all the MuUagatornies feared her very much 

indeed. 
They always did when they were bid 
What Mrs. MuUagatorny did, 
And always tried when they were taught 
To think as Mrs. MuUagatorny thought. 

Mrs. MuUagatorny said, *Two and two are three!' 
Mr. MuUagatorny said, T'm sure it ought to be.' 
William MuUagatorny said. Arithmetic is wrong.* 
Mary MuUagatorny said, 'It's been so all along.' 

Now two and two do not make three. 

And three they never were. 

But Mrs. MuUagatorny said, 

'Twas near enough for her. 
With Mrs. MuUagatorny the family all agreed. 
For all the MuUagatornies feared her very much 
indeed. 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 89 

They always did when they were bid 
What Mrs. MuUagatorny did, 
And always tried when they were taught 
To think as Mrs. Mullagatorny thought. 

Mrs. Mullagatorny fell out of the world one day. 

Mr. Mullagatorny hadn't a word to say. 

William Mullagatorny said, *I don't know what 

to do.' 
Mary Mullagatorny said, *I feel the same as you.' 
Mrs. Mullagatorny left the family sitting 

there. 
They couldn't think, they couldn't act 
Because they didn't dare. 
For Mrs. MaiUagatorny had always thought 

for them. 
And all the MuUagatornies thought the same 
as Mrs. M. 
With Mrs. Mullagatorny the family all agreed, 
For all the MuUagatornies feared her very much 

indeed. 
They always did when they were bid 
What Mrs. Mullagatorny did, 
And always tried when they were taught 
To think as Mrs. Mullagatorny thought." 

It is bad enough for the parents, but I say, 
think of the little children with hawk or vam- 
pire for parents ! 

The story is very sweet to me, of the little 
tired mother and her husband and children. 



90 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

They had worked and longed for a house of 
their own. And at last one day a relative left 
them a tiny house in a remote section. The 
little mother was receiving an acquaintance, 
and the visitor said, "Oh, Mrs. Smith, I am so 
glad that at last you have a home." And the 
little woman exclaimed, "Oh, we have always 
had a home, but we never had a house to put 
it in, before." 

Perhaps I feel my dear ones dragging some- 
what heavily upon me. Perhaps I have not 
enough spiritual stimulus and uplift to give to 
them. My buoyancy is flagging, and I have 
barely enough spiritual enthusiasm to maintain 
myself. Where shall I get the strength? What 
shall I grasp? Then, oh God, I turn to Thee. 
I calm myself by calling upon Thy calm. I 
smooth out my wrinkled ideas, and make my 
thoughts simple and sweet, and direct them to 
Thee. I raise my head, throw back my shoul- 
ders, breathe deeply, and feel my firm grasp 
returning, energy flows in, my energy grows 
and quickens, and I am strong once more. So 
one gets mental and spiritual and physical up- 
lift. Oh, marvel of God-given power. Perhaps 
for some natures it may be best to reach out- 
side to others who are more ennobling : who have 
a farther vision than themselves. 

Each soul has its special tendency or dream 
at any given time, and that dream is God's love- 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 91 

light which is leading the soul on and up. 
Everything else should blend in with the phi- 
losophy of that thought, to bring about a glori- 
ous, uplifting unity of life, and permanence of 
personality. 

What do I mean by that? I mean that each 
man should have time in the daily routine of 
little things, to infuse his dream somehow 
through the little things, so that they too ap- 
pertain to the dream, and his aspiration is 
unified and unimpeded. 

Believe in yourself, because you believe in 
God, and that God knew what He was about 
when He made you an instrument to work for 
Him. 

Life right here is not too hard for me. 
No. I need it this way still. I have not yet 
learned and used the conditions aright. When 
I have gotten from them all that they can teach, 
God will take them away, and will bring in 
something new. I am blind. Help me to see 
wherein I am failing of my duty, my loving 
duty to Thee, in these conditions. Right here 
in my little life in God's great universe, pulsing 
with myriads of lives and loves, and aspirations, 
I am selfish. Of course I am, or each day 
would be a paean of praise, and a glory of ac- 
complishment ! 

I remember learning a little poem when I 
was a child, which ran like this: 



92 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

*'Only think if all the children 
Who have lived through ages long 
Were collected^ and inspected^ 
They would make a wondrous throng. 
Oh^ the babble of the babel^ 
Oh^ the flutter and the fuss^ 
To begin with Cain and Abel^ 
And to finish up with us V* 

And a friend is fond of saying, "With so 
many remarkable children. Why so few re- 
markable men?" 

Yet the men are far more remarkable than 
we know. 

But this is true. Our physical children have 
their own individualities to work out, not ours. 
We can help them and suggest to them. But 
no one can work out our own individualities 
hut ourselves. 

But the surest are the children 
Of the spirit^ and the mind^ 
Ever with our high ideals 
Are these sanctuaries lined! 

So heed ye what Goethe says : 

*'Rest not! Life is sweeping by^ 
Go and dare^ before you die; 
Something mighty and sublime 
Leave behind to conquer time! 
Glorious 'tis to live for aye^ 
When these forms have passed away." 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 93 

Live diffusely, for the general good, and live 
specializedly for the working out of your own 
individual bent. It depends upon whether God 
intends us to generalize or specialize. And I 
believe he intends us to do both, at one and the 
same time. These two trends go together 
everywhere in His universe; just as He works 
out the life of the Individual at the same time 
as the life of the race, in large and evident 
ways, all through history, so here, in the in- 
dividual, in any limited time upon the time 
line, these two factors of generalized and spe- 
cialized training are advancing together. 

Again, I am a business-man. Are my rela- 
tions there what they should be? I must re- 
member that trust begets trust, kindness brings 
forth kindness, as surely as the acorn brings 
forth the oak, and by parallel laws in the men- 
tal and spiritual realms. If I hold the right 
mental attitude toward those connected with 
me, I develop the right mental attitude in them. 
The balance holds true. It has a perfect mathe- 
matical basis. jGive a cold man an overcoat 
and you help to warm and strengthen him 
physically. Give him helpful, noble advice, and 
you quicken and strengthen him mentally. 
Give it to him in sympathy and fraternal love 
and you warm and energize him spiritually. 

Why are we so blind, practically, to the laws 



94 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

in the higher realms? If the man who hates 
and despises one of his business-partners, will 
realize that it is something in the man, and 
not the man himself, which he is despising, and 
if he will but decide to love and help the man, 
and win his love, and develop better ideals in 
him, he can work miracles with and for him, 
and will receive an everlasting devotion from 
him in return. And he will joy with God over 
him. 

Do I remember that the world is all con- 
tributing to my success. The spiritual ener- 
gies loosed are contributing to my spiritual 
side, and therefore to my material and mental 
sides as well. Do I make good to others ma- 
terially, mentally, spiritually? Not hoarding, 
but using for some betterment. Truly in God's 
universe "to him that hath shall be given, and 
to him that hath not shall be taken away even 
that which he hath." It most literally pays 
in every sense to be good : it brings in material 
returns as well, did the world but realize it. 

Perhaps I am an executor or a trustee. 
Perhaps I have been spending much time and 
thought in directing a friend's little store of 
financial gain into my own household; I have 
justified myself on various grounds, but I have 
been carefully directing things as I would have 
them, for a long time. The world calls me 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 95 

honest. I am honest legally, according to 
man's law. But of what short temporal ac- 
count IS that? God calls me spiritually dis- 
honest, a thief, an embezzler. God's workings 
are often slow, but are sure, and much more 
far-reaching and in-reaching than are man's. 

As my mother says, man alone punishes 
violently, he hangs or shoots or what not. 
God never punishes in that way ; but the effect 
grows out of the cause. In my sub-conscious 
mind, I have been shrivelling in spirit, the ef- 
fect will be a checking of all my farther de- 
velopment : it will react upon the spiritual 
gains, of my own, my family, my friends and 
of my entire circle. I am a part of the world. 
I rise and fall with the tides of the world. 
I am lowering the world's spiritual tide. I 
have robbed the world of its due. I shall most 
surely have to pay. The mental and spiritual 
realms react unfailingly; and in due time upon 
the material realm as well. Even here, sooner 
or later, will come the reaction. 

The law of action and reaction as seen in 
the pendulum of the material world, has its 
parallel mentally and spiritually as well, and 
in these higher ranges is certainly quite as im- 
portant. Our mental and spiritual atmos- 
pheres are vibrating with energies of good and 
evil. We are generating true, faithful, honest 
atmosphere around our children to be absorbed 



96 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

by them, or we are not; around those in our 
service; around our friends. There is reac- 
tion in their mental and spiritual vibrations, 
and also an equivalent effect in all of the ma- 
terial expression of that thought world. 

GOOD ADYICE OR THE GOD-WITHIN? 

I should think it might be better^ little girl, 
When youVe done a thing and know that it is 

wrong, 
Just to seek the parent kind, and tell it all; 
And then wash your tears away in mother's song. 

And I dream it might be helpful, selfish youth, 
When you've wounded someone deeply, and feel 

dazed. 
Just to seek the wisest, noblest man you know: 
Try and rise upon the vision where he gazed. 

So I fancy that it's wiser, reckless man. 

Having squandered all the substance within range 

That you rally, halt, redeem, make good and 

learn. 
Oh, what matter that the worldly think it strange. 

So I gather that it's grander, child of God, 
When you feel your winged spirit clipped and sad, 
That you open wide the eyes that see with God, 
He the joyous nearing goal that makes you glad. 

God-like vision, brooding over sons of men, 
Teaching, warning, guiding, loving, lifts the clod. 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 97 

You are finding that you are the sons of men, 
But you're learning that God made you sparks of 
God! 



What a chance we have of setting the vibra- 
tions to ringing an exalted, joyous inflooding 
of good will and light and love ! 

Let us joy in the realization that there are 
many souls not self-seeking and small, but 
large and pure and unselfish and benign ! warm- 
ing and lighting up the physical, mental and 
spiritual atmospheres about them. And that 
each soul is drawing gradually nearer, and into 
this radiant atmosphere of God's glorious love, 
big enough for each and every and all, — to his 
fill. 

THE JOY OF PRAYER 

How shall we come to God? By all and 
every road! By service, "Do the works and 
ye shall know the doctrine" ; and by prayer. 
The realization of the importance of true 
prayer is coming as a sweeping thought once 
more over our land. 

Prayer is scientific. It is a systematized 
habit of lofty thought. Prayer crystallizes 
our thoughts, and so gives us added power to 
hold our thoughts aright. Prayer is the com- 
munion of the soul with its creator. Prayer 
is our talk with God. Listen to the voices of 



98 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

the angels, listen to the voice of God! How 
dare anyone or anything come between this 
sacred electric attraction and power of elemen- 
tal soul? It knows its own, it feels its own. 
It is of the same piece. We are questioning, 
seeking lofty counsel, asking forgiveness, crav- 
ing rest. From God we have no secret. With 
God and with God alone, have we perfect com- 
munion, perfect in so far as our souls have 
grown. And ever enlarging, deepening, sweet- 
ening. God search us, try us, teach us, use 
us, love us, satisfy us ! 

And prayer is not one-sided only; prayer 
meets with response, prayer brings us riches 
and power, and strength and earnestness, and 
enthusiasm and joy, if we ask for them rightly, 
and live up to the true asking. Prayer is the 
magic lamp of the Genii, the magic wand of 
the fairy — in that brightest realm of the spirit. 

But how do we feel God's direct touch? 
How do we know that we have reached His 
heart? We use these human expressions. 
But how inadequate they are. Can our lan- 
guage phrase the condition more vitally. How 
can I know that my soul is bare before my 
God? How can I feel His vivifying love and 
balm ? 

All souls have some degree of communion 
with Him. It is so finely expressed in the dear 
old hymn, 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 99 

"Prayer is the soul's sincere desire 

Uttered or unexpressed^ 
The motion of a hidden fire 
That kindles in the breast. 

Prayer is the simplest form of speech 

That human lips can try 
Prayer is the grandest praise to reach 

His majesty on high." 

The souPs sincere desire. Dr. Travis tells 
us that even the confirmed criminal prays, 
and prays devoutly, for his dark schemes. 

People of all religions and all times have 
prayed, do pray, and will forever pray. The 
orientals kneel upon their rugs of prayer with 
the glow of the eastern light upon their faces ; 
the catholic children faithfully tell their at- 
tractive beads ; and to the lowered heads the 
solemn angelus sounds around the world. 

In the words of Pope — in the words of the 
universal prayer, 

"Father of all^ in every age^ 
In every clime adored^ 
By saint^ by savage and by sage^ 
Jehovah^ Jove or Lord.*' 

The very little child prays and knows the 
heavenly love only through the parent love — 
the parent is his God. The human soul never 



100 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

or rarely again knows such adoration as is at 
one time his, beaming from the eloquent eyes 
of his little infant. Such disciples are born, 
not made. Voltaire tells us that the ambition 
for disciples is perhaps the strongest ambition 
of the human soul. 

Many religious sects furnish mediators. 
The Catholic religion seems to me the re- 
ligion of the child-adult, ' in respect to its 
confessor, and for how long are we all child- 
adults ? 

Every religion must have its leaders, but as 
the religion reaches a higher type of develop- 
ment, or rather, the person to whom it is to 
appeal, reaches a more evolved development, 
the authority of the leader is lessened. His 
province becomes one of stimulating thought 
or suggesting to one's own God-given authority 
within. 

Prof. Palmer, of Harvard, has a most un- 
usual sermon upon The Lord's Prayer. He 
analyzes the human prayer from the initial 
communion, through the steps of hesitation, to 
the ripe and ringing assurance — the joy! 

Exquisite as is The Lord's Prayer, and 
nobly as it has served the people, a more 
practical one, for these times, might I believe, 
be written. 

We say, "Our Father" ; the Catholic prays 
to Mother Mary, but we feel that there is no 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 101 

sex in God; or rather that there is all-sex in 
God, that sex is merely a condition, and that 
God is not in such wise conditioned, but ab- 
solute. 

But I repeat we are becoming adult. We 
will have no mediators. We must pray to God 
directly. In what throes are we thus born 
again — an Undine receiving her soul. To 
many people the match which ignites the fuse 
(which has been often long smouldering) flares 
suddenly. We are driven to despair. We are 
hunted down. Misunderstood of men, we 
clutch upon God. And a peace which passeth 
understanding floods our souls, and warms us 
through eternity. Joy unutterable is ours ! 
God holds our little panting, thirsting, fright- 
ened souls, in the hollow of His hand. And 
we never cry so hard again. We know that 
we are God's. 

Human loves, husband, wife, children, life, 
death, are all conditions. God and the human 
soul alone remain in eternity, in unmeasured 
space and untold time. 

Prayer with God? It is more, it is living 
with God. 

The bitterest hell must be the feeling that 
one is forsaken of God. Mrs. Browning gives 
us a touching picture of how poor Cowper felt 
it, in her poem on "Cowper's Grave." His 
was a sweet, sensitive, religious nature thrown 



102 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

repeatedly into religious melancholy. Like 
ImmanuePs cry^ "It went up single, echoless, 
my God I am forsaken!" But the warm as- 
surance comes flooding in. The soul is humil- 
iated, humbled: then the soul is sustained. 

We often resent the action of human law- 
courts. We never resent having God as our 
Judge. Imagine a human soul waking up after 
death, being led by an angel, who says : 

*'Now all the good that you have wrought^ through 

all your life inspired^ 
Is spread before your consciousness!'' He spoke 

and left me dazed ! 
My being thrilled^ illumined^ soared^ as step by 

step I traced 
Great lives where stimulus was mine ! my soul with 

wild joy blazed^ 
Too great the reahzation swept! 
I bowed my spirit^ prayed and wept. 

Then suddenly the scene was changed; and pierc- 
ing to the soul^ 

Before my quiv'ring being all the stunted lives 
lay bare^ 

Where blight^ or hurt^ or evil of my own^ had 
poisoned deep^ 

And led a trail of sin^ and desolation^ and despair! 

No sob^ nor sigh^ nor sickening moan^ 

The horror^ chilled my heart to stone. 

Oh God^ Thou holds't the scales ! 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 103 

We leave Thee to judge us. We love Thee 
to judge us. Thee alone! We are always 
willing that God should hold the scales. 

Think of the shrieks of pain and paeans of 
praise that beat upon God. How can he en- 
dure it all? Perhaps because he knows that 
these are growing pains of ours (his children), 
needed by us, from His infinite wisdom and de- 
voted love. 

And God wants each in his own place. You 
remember Browning's poem, ^'The Boy and The 
Angel".? • 

''Mornings evenings noon and night _, 
Praise God^ sang Theocrite!'' 

And then he went on with his black-smithing 
task. But he longed to praise God the Pope's 
grand way. At last an angel had him made 
Pope, and the angel went and took his place 
at the black-smithing. But when the angel 
took up the praise for Theocrite, God was not 
satisfied, and He said, 

*'So somid old loves; and so 
New loves that from my foot-stool go. 
Clearer loves sound other ways 
I miss my little human praise!" 

We rejoice when mystic visions show us that 



104 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

the scorching, forging heat of the Almighty 
love IS ours, and how to maintain Its purifying 
force and power Is our Insatiable longing. 
Prayer Is one great way ; communion,, thought, 
constant and close, knowing His presence Is 
with us always as we go. I know a little girl 
who was an only child. She craved compan- 
ionship so greatly that she conceived a thought- 
child, and she called the thought-child Elsie, 
and Elsie was her constant companion. The 
Imaginary Elsie was always with her, by her 
side. This was a creation made by a little 
child. How much more can a mature mortal 
starving for love and joy, bring God to him, 
as a guarding, ennobling, vital personality, ever 
residing In his soul. Elsie was a satisfying 
mental manifestation of God — the manifesta- 
tion which the child needed. So we can each 
get from God whatever manifestation we need. 

If there Is anything you strongly desire. If 
you have any dire need, ask God for this thing, 
and work for It. He can manifest Himself to 
you anywhere. If your desire Is In line with 
His spiritual laws, and If you hold steadily 
and lovingly to your directing wish, you will 
receive God's manifestation of this thing. For 
God Is everything. From His everything, you 
can pick out anything you wish, and If It be a 
right spiritual wish, you will receive It. 

You, a part, are appealing to the whole, and 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 105 

vague visions of the whole, of God, are mani- 
festing to you, as fast as you can see them. 
As Emily Dickinson says : 

"I asked no other things -r 

None other was denied^ 
I offered Being for it." 

Are you longing for anything in that sort 
of way? It will come. Ask for it? Pray for 
it ! Dwell on it ; work for it. Then accept it 
when it comes, as a manifestation of God, em- 
phasize the divine side, not the so-called human. 
Everything is yours ! There is everything in 
the Universe for everyone, and to spare. Seek 
and ye shall find. God gives it to you. He 
will cover and satisfy all of your needs. 

**A11 things are mine^ since I am His ^ 

How can I keep from singing!" 

That is such a grand hymn, we must have 
the whole of it. 

"My life flows on in endless song; 
Above earth's lamentation. 
I hear the sweet though far off hymn 
That hails a new creation; 
Thro' all the tumult and the strife 
I hear the music ringings 
It finds an echo in my soul — 
How can I keep from singing? 



106 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

What tho' my joys and comforts die, 

The Lord my Helper liveth! 

What tho' the darkness gather round: 

Songs in the night He giveth! 

No storm can shake my inmost calm 

While to the refuge clinging; 

Since God is Lord of heaven and earth. 

How can I keep from singing? 

I lift mine eyes; the cloud grows thin, 

I see the blue above it, 

And day by day this pathway smooths 

Since first I learned to love it. 

The Jjeace of God makes fresh my heart, 

A fountain ever springing, 

All things are mine since I am His, 

How can I keep from singing ! " 

Emerson makes three divisions of love, ini- 
tial, demoniacal and celestial. The celestial 
love is the only abiding kind. Love on the 
physical, and even moral planes, is only of 
value as indicating the spiritual level reached. 
Pure love is satisfied only so far as spirit sat- 
isfies spirit. It is God in our friends, in our 
families and in ourselves, which we value. By 
prayer, communion, we grow to feel God's 
spirit satisfying ours. As we dwell on God, as 
we magnify His place, as we invite Him, as we 
implore Him to obsess our minds and souls, we 
grow in strength and grandeur. This is 
prayer, and the answer. 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 107 

The religion of Quietism, interpreted by 
Fenelon, in so far as it grew into wonders of 
spirit, has much of beauty in it. The mysti- 
cism of the East, all spiritualizing processes in 
all religions, have this common helpfulness. 

Some of our young Unitarian leaders are 
telling us that Unitarianism of the future will 
be the unity of all religions, the central meet- 
ing-point of all truth. As the wheat is threshed 
from the chaff, will not the residuum, of every 
religion (so-called), claim this central unify- 
ing place? Should not this out-reaching, this 
prayerful communion with God, be peculiarly 
powerful in a strong and positive progressive 
faith? 

At one of the Mother's Congress meetings, 
someone spoke of the place, perhaps a door, 
where in a household, the heights of the little 
curly-pates had year by year been measured — 
the place sanctified by home loves, and perhaps 
heaven losses. .Has not each soul its shrine, 
where abide the sacred holies in his life, the 
steps which are his measures of God's inflow- 
ing spirit, his little struggling apotheoses? 

We are meant, along the journey of life, it 
seems to me, to measure ourselves with human 
standards and with human loves, but not by so 
doing to neglect the higher test, God's meas- 
urement. This we come ever more nearly to 
discover, by communion — the comparison of 



108 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

our present self with our former self, and with 
the self that is to be. 

If children were trained in their games, and 
all through life, to contest not with each other, 
but with their former selves, and led on toward 
a higher goal for themselves, it would be a 
much more noble training than they generally 
now receive. Do not think that such games 
would lack interest ; golf is interesting, and il- 
lustrates my point fairly well. 

Most lives are but slowly infused with the 
divine spirit. A few souls are in danger of 
being over-spiritualized, in proportion to their 
physique ; — a sort of spiritual debauch seizes 
hold of weak and tired minds. Their high 
purposes are defeated. They are led into the 
unreal. Spiritualism too often leads its ad- 
herents into extreme exhaustion. They are 
rendered useless to themselves and to mankind. 
They must recuperate, get healthy and keep 
sane in their spirit work. But a normal indi- 
vidual, who is open to all truth, but will not let 
himself be carried away by any person, creed 
or sect, who heeds the precaution to look at 
things in proportion, as God views them, as 
nearly as possible, and who takes the spirit- 
ual root meaning of it all, and whose motive 
is to be led only by God for His service, need 
never fear the power of prayer, or any God- 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 109 

vision which may com-e to him. He cannot 
open the gates too widely to the spiritual in- 
flowing. 

I once heard John Sparhawk Jones say a 
genius is a tank into which the divine power is 
pouring; most of us turn the spigot, and let 
it in drop by drop ; but a genius, lets it in full 
flood. Oh, to be a spiritual genius, and have 
God's love and power pour into us and through 
us to our fellow-men ! 

When you are in trouble, and sore spiritual 
need, do not turn to outside help (I say this 
most earnestly to most souls), but turn to God. 
Through prayer the true lover finds his com- 
pletest dream realized, his spirit learns to 
reach for spirit. Through prayer, the worker 
finds his supremest power, his surest strength 
in crises. Through prayer the weary one 
creeps into God's boundless arms, and finds 
his perfect rest. 



JOY IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD 

And now a word as to whether there is a 
God. For my part, I am as sure of it as I 
am of my own soul. 

Descartes' logic, "Je suis parce que je pense," 
I am because I think, or I think therefore I 
exist, is proof enough to me of my own soul. 



110 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

Through our thoughts we create, and set 
things going. And herein we are following in 
the footsteps of God. We might say Lq 
Dieu est parce qu'il pense. God thinks, there- 
fore He is, God is because He thinks. For do 
we not see God's thoughts manifested, created, 
all about us. We are some of His thoughts. 
To me this is the most important logical con- 
clusion in my world. 

Let us start with the human soul. What 
does this soul do? It loves, it seeks, it aspires. 
What does it love.? What does it seek? What 
does it aspire to? It is always God, called by 
all sorts of names. The little babe looks up 
into its mother's face, and adores its God. 
The older child loves first its parents, then 
brothers, sisters, friends, husband or wife, 
children, more friends, and so on. But always 
and so on, and on, never satisfied until it 
rests in the progressing ideals, in the love of 
God, and exults with Him in His service. 
There the nascent bonds are satisfied. And 
while resting, it for the first time begins to 
truly achieve. The soul knows at last why it 
works — to help its God. The exalted joy 
comes with the accomplishment, and consecra- 
tion. The joy with God could not be unless 
there were a God to joy with. Therefore the 
fact that there comes this kind of joy to the 
human soul, is a proof that there is a God, a 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 111 

benign, loving God, who gives us and shares 
with us His glorious joy! 

Souls are all along the way, some feeling 
God vaguely, or blindly, and some more clearly, 
actively, consciously. 

God may be found everywhere and every- 
how, through nature or through human nature. 
But so also may he be found through a lack of 
these, through a loneliness and dire need of 
them. 

Emily Dickinson says, "Success is counted 
sweetest by him who ne'er succeeds !" So love 
is counted sweetest by him who is starved for 
love. And to a lonely soul, longing for love, 
God breaks in as an illuminating warmth, 
and the soul is never so lonely again. 

Sitting down on the rug in front of the life- 
less fire one night, I was fighting with myself 
lest I should allow myself to feel utterly des- 
olate, lonely and discouraged. I of myself 
could not seem to sustain my responsibilities, 
it seemed as though I must have some outside 
help, and I would not allow myself to go to 
humans for it. Oh God, I prayed, show me 
some rock of support, some power? Then 
came a. warm spiritual cloud-burst of aff^ection- 
ate love and tenderness surrounding and en- 
veloping me, seeming to hold me up physically, 
mentally and spiritually. God was with me. 
Nothing was too "hard." I would never be 



lia THE RELIGION OF JOY 

lonely again. That royal loving strength was 
again proved to me. I wept and was at peace. 

The more difficult the human experiences, the 
more surely does God come to satisfy. One 
day we will all grow to glory in our so-called 
difficulties, feeling that God is honoring 
us with greater responsibilities and larger 
spiritual insight, as fast as we can attain 
them. 

The mystics find their proof of God in mysti- 
cal convictions and visions. But the non- 
mystical cannot accept this proof second-hand. 
They must be led along gradually to it. 

I believe that in time psychical research or 
spiritual research will bring marvels of proof 
to the doubting. Little help in these lines will 
come, as long as people of mentality alone, or 
few others with them, work in psychical re- 
search. But if all the most spiritual souls, 
ministers and mystics, should band together to 
get their own physical proof of God, it would 
surely come. 

But with the mass risen to no higher spirit- 
ual level than now exists, in America for in- 
stance, such spiritual knowledge would be 
throwing pearls before swine, nay, rather, giv- 
ing a sword into the hands of babes. 

As I understand logic, I prove God by logic 
of inference. As I understand a mathemati- 
cal problem, I find God as the answer to my 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 113 

mathematical problem of the universe. God is 
the answer to my every problem. On the 
scales of life, He is the balance, to keep me true 
and strong. The Joy which comes from loving 
and serving Him, colors all the factors in my 
life-problem; colors my mental horizons and 
gives me peace, and gives me more, and the 
more is active joyous enthusiasm. 

One of our liberal ministers says there 
are only four ways by which man can approach 
Truth — through special Revelations, through 
Rationalization, through Mysticism and 
through Pragmatism. All special revelations, 
all revelation, shows a benign Deity back of it 
all. Rationalization (reasoning) too, leads us 
to a benign Deity. Mysticism takes us into 
that same truth; and Pragmatism, we are all 
trying it more or less, will eventually in the 
last analysis just as surely lead us to that 
point — to God. So that man in his search for 
truth, must, I believe, in the end always find 
God. 

A friend said to me, "How do you conceive 
of God?" I said, "as a personality, plus. I 
go straight to His personality. I want no 
Buddha, no Mohammed, even no Christ. 
They may help me, for the spirit of the Christ 
diffused everyone needs ; the spirit of son- 
ship, child-ship. But most people seem to 
comprehend God only in comprehending 



114 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

Christ. For me, what I cannot comprehend, 
I vaguely feel, I take on faith, and I must have 
no mediators of any description. I must go 
straight to perfect love and joy." 

Many influences of parents, friends, history, 
religion, and personal experience combine to 
make it possible for us to go finally straight 
to God. As we grow older we find our phi- 
losophy of life simplifying, unifying. 

I was blessed with a most wonderful father, 
a father with so sweet a nature that he was 
called throughout the family a saint. As 
a child, I loved to address him as Our Father 
who art on earth, and to my childish heart it 
seemed most appropriate, and darlingly sug- 
gestive of his goodness. But it pained him ex- 
ceedingly to have me do so, and for that rea- 
son I tried to refrain from using the phrase. 

But the attitude of the child and the parent, 
all of us the children of a loving God, was the 
central thought in my father's religion and I 
suppose the fatherhood and motherhood of 
God was made very real to me. He considered 
Jesus most wonderful. He was busy when he 
died marking all the sayings of and about 
Jesus, which he considered authentic, because 
he believed them true to the character of Jesus. 

I picture God in the physical, mental, moral 
and spiritual realms, each and all. I speak of 
these realms as popularly used, not as really 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 115 

distinct realms. For I believe, that the physi- 
cal, mental, moral and spiritual, when carried 
to their ultimates of beauty, wisdom, justice 
and goodness, are one, and each covers the 
same ground. 

Whether God is the sum-total of all beauty, 
wisdom, justice and goodness; whether God is 
the sum-total of all perfect Love, of that in 
you, in me and in every other soul or whether 
he has given away these qualities to each soul, 
and is Himself the source, fount or root, of 
these, and a much larger amount of them, we 
need not yet know. 

Whether we remain forever individual, or 
in the course of many coming spiritual evolu- 
tions, eventually flow back to be a part of the 
universal, of God, we need not yet know. Logi- 
cal perfect unselfishness, seems to me to mean 
perfect universality, and perfect personality — 
God-ness. I believe the time will come when 
we will know ourself, our perfect completed 
self, to be a part of God, — that part having 
always been destined to seek perfection and the 
perfect whole. 

But this much I know of God. I had a 
wonderful mystical realization of Him once, 
which has never left me. Of course it has not 
always remained as vividly clear, but it has al- 
ways been a background of knowledge and 



116 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

conviction ; with exalted glimpses here and there 
again on the way. 

I had gone through with a very unhappy 
experience, and was in a state of mental diffi- 
culty, and could not analyze myself. That 
summer was spent very quietly with paper 
and pencil, writing myself into a clearer state. 

Suddenly, one morning (alone in the large 
hall sort of room), a burst of light, brilliance, 
vibration, of surrounding uplifting pity, love, 
sweetness, and strength encompassed me. It 
seemed to center in the upper corner of the 
hall, but to radiate through the house, through 
the world, through my heart, through my soul, 
through my life. It had a quality of perma- 
nence, and largeness, outside of all bounds or 
times, I burst into a flood of tears, feeling 
that I was entirely understood, pitied, loved, 
empowered; that now the strength had come 
to me. 

My eyes saw His light and glory, my mind 
met His in wondrous understanding, my spirit 
was warmed in His radiance, cradled in His 
power and soothed into His perfect calm. I 
rose to know God. I was encompassed by 
Him. My spirit enlarged and revived ! 

But I felt that I must wait, must go quietly 
on in life, and God would show me what he 
wanted me to do. 

God helped me when no one else could. And 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 117 

yet, I had many dear friends all about me. 
But the human soul had need of God. And 
my soul has had need of God ever since. 

No historical figure, no human soul, even no 
angel spirit can help as God does. I have 
need to go straight to Him. I learned, then, 
that humanity, fine and noble as it was, would 
never satisfy me. I learned that human con- 
ditions were entirely secondary, that the real 
soul life was independent of any conditions. 

Oh, friends, we are independent of any special 
conditions; the soul must soar above all these, 
must stay calmly, quietly with God. 

Once since, as I have said, when I was in 
bitter loneliness, my soul cried out to God. 
And again the immense compelling personality 
filled me with such a warmth of response, that 
I believed I could never be solitary again, and 
I felt that I could forever hold an understand- 
ing heart. 

And once, after a long and for a time seem- 
ingly profitless struggle to draw the light of 
the spirit upon a very dear friend, a sudden 
realization of the accomplishing of this end, 
threw me into the Joy of God so transform- 
ingly, that in my inmost heart of hearts three 
years of life have been to me a deep paean of 
praise. 



118 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

I am learning that we must turn from the 
selfish to the universal, and so joy with God 
over all the accomplishment of good. Not 
aloof from life, but full of more life: not full 
of one's own single selfish life, but full of the 
many lives, and trying to see with God's vi- 
sion for them — realizing the underlying princi- 
ples of things, and how they work for the good 
of all. 

And in these days, messages from the 
angels are bringing us suggestions, and help- 
ing us toward God, and a fuller corroboration 
of His reality, and of our immortality. 

Despite all the folly and evil connected with 
mediumship, scientific proof of God and im- 
mortality will, I believe, be forthcoming in due 
time. 

A year or two ago, I was trying to write 
my thoughts clear on the Religion of Joy, 
when a friend coming in, I tried a few pages 
upon her. She returned later, and read me a 
communication purporting to come from a 
deceased mother to her grown-up children — a 
letter full of the love and light, warmth and 
joy of God, surrounding all souls. 

I, too, have had these impressions, these con- 
victions, these illuminations, and have had 
what I believe to be messages from the other 
side — bearing the word of the tender loving 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 119 

radiance and joy of God. These are some- 
times clear, and the source seems labelled. And 
sometimes they are vague. My spiritual in- 
sight is not yet enough developed to know al- 
ways whether these are direct from God, or 
from the angels, or from the spiritual energy 
of friends on this side, or from my own sub- 
conscious accumulations. 

Many of you have had these mystical experi- 
ences. This is not a realm where any forcing 
is wise. It is probably best not to seek, and 
not to obstruct. God will reveal to His chil- 
dren, wisely, in His own good time. 

But I am slowly gathering together evidence, 
and by the time the tender Father calls me 
home, I shall have accumulated whatever evi- 
dence toward knowledge and a larger faith He 
intends this one of His children to bring, to 
meet the world's longings and hopes. 

Perhaps some of you, when you were so ill 
that your spirit almost left your body, have 
experienced that feeling of buoyancy and 
lightness — that power of moving, regardless of 
time and space and physical conditions. 

It is wonderful, this freedom from the body ! 
I believe that some of us have been on the edge 
of that glory which is to be. 

The world wants God and immortality 
proved to it. Our love, our logical reasoning, 
our soul-needs, all mystical impressions, whis- 



120 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

perings of the angels, are drawing us, and help- 
ing to prove Him to our hearts and minds and 
souls. 

Oh, that thousands upon thousands of lips 
all over the world might proclaim simultane- 
ously a Religion of Joy with God! Oh, that 
every heart might feel it, and every life might 
manifest it ! Joy, for you are a part of God ! 
You are growing perfect as fast as you will. 
Long to help others, the other parts of God, 
to grow ideal! 

WE ARE CREATING GODS 

Our souls are creative powers capable of 
developing ourselves and helping others de- 
velop physically, mentally and spiritually. 
What wonder that the thought awakens a great 
exultant joy within us. 

As babes we come from God^ 
As youths perchance we go astray, 
Nor stays man here, 
God's progress leads him on. 
Through downward to the upward step he turns, 
Discovery of his divine allegiance surely won! 
Divine the love which said — 

Thus constituted individual, I will set this soul- 
stuff free, 
'Tis of My love, and through this yearning love 
Back it must grow to me! 



THE RELIGION OF JOY 121 

Thus will it evolve. 

Evolving with it in its growth, 

Matter and mind, or energy. 

For into energy are transmuted matter, mind and 

soul. 
And holy love in time will make 
This soul so rare unselfish, 
That this unselfishness, this 
Universality, will grow a God. 
As God, this soul will share with Me 
In thus creating Intelligent-Divinity 
From all matter and mind, from all energy. 
Evolved by means of individualized soul-stuff, 
Gods we will create through all eternity 
Of time and space, and power and love. 

AN APPEAL TO MY FELLOW-MEN — 
A PRAYER TO THE GOD-WITHIN EACH OTHER SOUL 

Oh, each human soul which not only feels, 
but also loves and thinks, live your life, not as 
a slave scourged to your task, not even as a 
child constrained to the good, but as a being 
possessing a free-will, voluntarily putting your 
all, in line with an All-wise, all-loving Father, 
in a service of love and faith. Then you will 
know always a supreme spiritual satisfaction, 
a deep enthusiasm of solemn joy. You will 
be sweeter, braver, more cheerful, more of an 
inspiration to others ! 



122 THE RELIGION OF JOY 

You, a part of God, individualized to realize 
and perfect your part, and with God to rea- 
lize and help perfect all the other individual- 
ized parts of God, your fellow-men. 

God is the perfect whole. His personality 
is the center of that whole. It is His person- 
ality for which we are always seeking and 
yearning, through all of our lives and loves. 
Everything is a part of God, a manifestation, 
a thought of His. God has individualized 
parts of Himself, has made us individuals, 
with free-wills, to specialize his work. These 
parts are to perfect themselves through the 
guiding string of love, the golden links of love, 
which draw us to Himself. 

When the part has become a perfect part, 
it joys at the thought of entering into the 
whole, of blending with all the other perfected 
parts, in the perfect wKole, centered in the per- 
sonality of God. 

Who will be disciples of thq Religion of Joy? 
God's disciples in God's Joy? Sir Galahad 
wore white armor. Let us clothe ourselves in 
white armor, and bear a white banner. Let 
us hold God's love in our hearts and God's 
Joy on our lips ! 



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